Gallian Nights
by Aquatic-Idealist
Summary: Ike and Muarim take Lethe's offer to visit Gallia, and are accompanied by several of their companions, including Lyre. However, terrible things begin to brew, and our heroes find themselves dealing with a hostage crisis!
1. The Weary Travelers

Gallian Nights

Ask anyone who's been to Gallia, and they will tell you stories of the beauty of that mystic land. Lush green forests, wide meadows, sparkling lakes, and mighty rivers make the land a gorgeous sight during the day. But these same people also praise the elegance of the night. At night, the land seems completely new. Cool breezes calm anyone in a rough mood at any time of the year, and the shadows can hide one from prying eyes. There is a mysterious air during the night, a time when colors fade into obscurity, and a time when the beautiful moon lends an ear to any lamenting soul.

But even in a land of beauty can darkness encroach, and by no means is this darkness the shadow of the night; no, this is the darkness of the heart, the corrupter of souls. No matter how beautiful a place is, darkness can easily corrupt such beauty and destroy it entirely. This is the lesson a small band of heroes learned on one unforgettable Gallian night.

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Chapter 1: The Weary Travelers

_"Let us cheer the weary traveler,_

_Cheer the weary traveler, _

_Let us cheer the weary traveler _

_Along the heavenly way"_ (1.)

Beads of sweat trailed down Muarim's face as he heaved the last stone cube and shoved it into place. It had taken years to fix that castle wall, years to repair cracks and holes created in a single day. On that day, King Ashnard lost his throne. On that day, the men and women of Crimea earned their right to keep their nation, and on that day, forty five people learned that, through courage and persistence, through toil and pain, and through bruises and bleeding, one can achieve the pinnacle of one's existence. One can fulfill any goal.

The green tiger used his muscular arm to wipe his forehead and panted. He looked around him, appreciating the vast courtyard for its glory. This was Castle Crimea, the pride and joy of Melior, capital of that resilient nation. It boasted a garden that stretched for several kilometers, covering the land it sat on with roses, rare flowers of all colors, and lush green shrubs that exposed the vigor of young life. It boasted a fountain bursting with shimmering water every moment, and it boasted a balcony where one could observe and appreciate the peaceful dance of the clouds. Muarim sighed as he looked in the sky. How he longed to fly away to distant lands...

The green tiger turned to his left, and spotted a slightly bulkier man with a blue tail of his own. "Mordecai, my brother!" Muarim greeted. "How's your end coming?"

Mordecai nodded, giving Muarim a light smile. "I'm very tired. Mordecai can work hard, he does have his limits."

Muarim smiled. His brother tiger always had the habit of speaking in the third person. Even though two years had passed since the defeat of Ashnard, Mordecai had never gotten used to speaking in the beorc tongue. Yet, the tiger couldn't shake the feeling that, unlike Mordecai, he'd never felt that sense of freedom among his fellow laguz. Even now, the green tiger still felt a little awkward around his own kind.

The two tigers were too busy staring at each other to notice a more slender figure approach them. "Done already? My, my. You've been rather efficient, Muarim. Instead of letting the beorc fix their own wall, you've done the job for them. This is the case when you work too hard for someone else." A slightly bitter, yet calm voice pierced the air.

"Lethe..." Muarim and Mordecai both murmured as they turned to the feline. The more slender laguz stared back at them with a rather serious expression. Lethe's orange tail flicked left and right restlessly. "Muarim, remember that conversation we had, where I offered to give you a tour of Gallia?" She asked, her voice making it sound more like a demand.

"Yes... I was looking forward to it." Muarim nodded, with a polite smile.

Lethe gave him a sincere grin: "Well, you're in luck! Apparently, Ike and Soren will be free after a few days, so we'll be able to head out for Gallia. Considering the fact that we have many workers here who would eagerly finish the job, I'm sure Elincia wouldn't mind if we headed out. I'm sure there are many Gallians who would be honored to meet you, Muarim."

"Why thank you, Lethe." Muarim nodded seriously, but the twinkle in his eyes betrayed his expression. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Lethe nodded, assuming a more business like pose: "Meet me in two days. Oh, and Mordecai?" She turned to the blue tiger now, catching him off guard. "Yes, Lethe?"

"It would be great if you came along too. Don't worry about the job here, those beorc can handle themselves, and our brothers are already assisting them." Lethe nodded.

As Lethe strolled away, Muarim and Mordecai exchanged a smile. Finally, they'd have a vacation!

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Ike slowly polished Ragnell as Soren brushed the dust off of his Tornado tome. "I never thought that I'd have to pull this out again..." The raven-haired Sage muttered as he looked over the book. "But it seems that, on a journey like this, we are bound to be ambushed, considering how famous and rich we are."

"You're just being paranoid, Soren. What's the worst thing that can happen to us?" The bulkier man shook his head and gave the mage a light smile. "We're going to Gallia, for crying out loud. Gallia! The land of the Beast tribes, the laguz who helped us two years ago. What could possibly happen to us? You're right in that we should be prepared for anything, but as long as you're carrying some powerful tome like Thoron and everyone brings a reliable and strong weapon, we should be more than prepared for the worst."

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The clouds floated lazily overhead as Muarim looked up at them, strangely amused by their serenity. With Mordecai by his side, the two strolled over to where Lethe was impatiently tapping her foot. "Come, come. We don't have all day." She snarled. "Ike's waiting for us."

The three sprinted a few miles before they spotted Ike, Soren, and Mist, who were all eagerly awaiting Lethe's commands to move forward. But, before they could move on, they heard a high-pitched shout: "Hold!"

Ilyana stepped forward, rather awkwardly, and spoke: "Mia told me you were heading out on a journey to Gallia, and since Murston and the others will be fine without me, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me tagging along."

Soren opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Lethe: "If you're coming with us, then get those legs moving and follow. We've wasted enough time as it stands." The feline hissed, though she did not attach a glare of malice to her words.

At the Crimean/Gallian border, a young cat laguz woman was sitting aimlessly on a rock, her tail swishing back and forth. She wore a red blouse and a pair of black shorts, and her hands moved to a red collar on her neck, which she adjusted slightly. Scanning the terrain in front of her, the laguz sighed and put her chin in her palms, aimlessly looking at her surroundings. There were quite a few boulders lying about, and a sea of trees covered the horizon behind her. Sniffing the air with her nose, she smirked: "It's about time." From behind a stone quarry, Lethe and the others emerged.

"So you are the folks who fought with my sister in the Mad King's War." The laguz greeted them. Lethe's nose crinkled: "How blunt of you. Yes, everyone, this is my sister, Lyre. She can be quite a pain in one's neck, but she's quite trustworthy. I asked her to serve as your guide."

"Does that mean that you will not be joining us, Lethe?" Muarim inquired.

"I will be joining you, but considering that I am one of Gallia's top officers, I want to make sure that you are covered in the event that His Majesty Caineghis calls for me. But let's get going. I want to make sure that we reach Castle Gallia before it gets too dark." Lethe replied.

The trees rustled in the autumn wind, and as the two sisters stammered over the history of Gallia, competing for who would tell the most about Gallia's history and lore to their companions, Mist decided to ignore such trivial facts and enjoy the scenery. Being stuck in the mercenary fort for the last year, Mist was quite eager to visit Gallia, this time not as refugees, but as tourists. These orange, red, and gold leaves that shimmered in the trees were much more beautiful and interesting than the growls and shrieks among sisters.

Soren, too, was rather interested in the trip but tired of Lethe's and Lyre's bickering. The war had changed him, for not long ago he would have adamantly refused to have anything to do with such an excursion. But after meeting with laguz like Ranulf, Muarim, and even Lethe, he looked at them differently. He had mounds of bad memories in Gallia that haunted him for much of his life, but now he was willing to set them aside and enjoy the experience instead.

What helped matters more was the fact that the laguz were beginning to improve their stance to the branded, whom they once deemed "parentless." Now that they were more willing to be friendly, Soren predicted hat he'd be more welcome among the laguz.

The eight of them headed deep into Gallia. Soon after they entered the country, Mordecai was called away to a post in the east, and did not received a detailed briefing on the matter. Lethe and Lyre, finally sick of arguing, decided to have friendly chats with particular members of their party instead.

"Muarim..." Lyre turned around and addressed the burly tiger. "My sister told me that you were a slave in Begnion." She spoke, trying to make him open up.

"Yes... I was, but I'd prefer not to speak of such events, for they leave a very bitter taste, and I don't want you to feel unpleasant because of me."

"You don't need to worry about me feeling unpleasant. Being a warrior and the youngest daughter of a violent father, I've seen my own share of horrors. I think that your bitter memories are clouding your personality, making it harder for us to know you. My sister often spoke fondly of you, and I'm quite curious about how your life must have been. It may be difficult, but if you let those emotions out, you'll feel better."

"Grr... You may be right... Well... I've always had an ambiguous feeling about the beorc..."

"How so?"

"There are those beorc who tormented me and my fellow slaves. They would take females for their own perverted desires, or force males and females to create more slaves. Both sexes were ordered to perform ridiculously excruciating tasks, or suffer from rape or torture as a consequence. The life you've lived in Gallia is like paradise compared to ours..."

"I honestly can't imagine the kinds of pains you've gone through, but look at it this way, you've grown stronger from them. Instead of being bitter and cursing the beorc, you've learned to befriend them. Lethe told me that you even adopted a beorc child."

"Yes, Tormod is my son... And General Ike... is a good man. He is nothing like the beorc I once dealt with."

Watching Lyre help Muarim feel more comfortable, Lethe's eyes softened a little, but noting that the sun was about to set, her eyes quickly hardened and she snarled: "Both of you! Hurry up or you'll be left behind! I want to get to the capital as soon as possible!" Lethe snarled at the pair.

"My sister has always been hasty, but I'm sure you already know that." Lyre chuckled as both laguz increased their pace.

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"So this is Gallia's glory..." Soren began.

When they came here previously, the Mercenaries were led quickly into the palace and quickly out of the city, barely giving them a chance to see Gallia's capital for what it was: a grand city, filled with life and elegance that far surpassed that of any beorc city.

Now, standing on a small hill looking over the city, they could finally appreciate its grandeur. Houses of stone and straw dotted the streets, which looked more like natural trails than their dull and hard beorc counterparts. Leather tents dotted the streets, where laguz, sitting behind tables, would offer goods of all sorts to curious passer-bys. There were laguz leather workers making armor made for laguz warriors, and even booksellers who wrote scrolls and books for purchase. The food vendors had huge portions of meat that made Ilyana drool, even though the slabs of meat were raw. Every merchant was a laguz, and this made things seem so strange to Muarim and Ike, who were used to seeing shops where beorc were the owners and workers.

"Little did I think that we laguz made such a great home for ourselves... In Begnion we only heard terrible things about Gallia." Muarim sighed.

"Those lying bluebloods..." Lyre sighed, her fits tightening in anger. She was proud of her Gallian heritage and couldn't stand it being insulted. However, she did what she could to prevent herself from snarling.

Ike raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lyre. Smiling, he announced: "Well, at least someone has more maturity than her sister."

Lethe shot him a death glare, which by now had no effect on the warrior.

Mist ignored her brother and Lethe's silent quarrel and instead focused on the city before her. The world of Crimea and that of Gallia were both so amazing to her. They each had their own perks. Crimea was a land of people that were beginning to respect and cherish their neighbors. It was a land of knowledge, of scholarship, and a land where everyone lived under the reign of a soft yet steadfast queen who would always do what is best for the people.

Gallia was a different world, a world of a proud race that would never stand down before anyone. Though she was Crimea's ally, Gallia's king was quite a different person than Queen Elincia of Crimea. He was a strong man, and his strength is what kept his nation strong against invaders. He inspired his subjects to be strong, and represented the vitality of the nation. Though he was a benevolent king, loved by his people, his paw was much tougher than Elincia's maiden hand. He ruled Gallia by patriarchal force, not by motherly love.

Mist sighed. In many ways, she was a native of both worlds. She was born in Gallia and grew up in Crimea, allowing her to move comfortably between the two races, laguz and beorc, without feeling afraid like many of the Crimeans. But now she finally had a chance to see the true beauty of her birthplace... The haven for beast-men, like Muarim.

Muarim, too, heaved a great sigh and smiled. He was finally among those whom he could call kin. Back in Begnion, his fellow laguz were merely other slaves, and it obviously was rather painful to address them as so. Yes, the Laguz Emancipation Army was a family of sorts, but they could not stay too attached to one another, for any one of them might die at any moment for the good of their enslaved brothers and sisters. Muarim shuddered when at the thought of the desert. That horrid place was not the ideal habitat for laguz. Their fur and feathers roasted them alive in such an environment.

But Gallia was so different. It might have just been a hallucination of sorts, but Muarim felt a peace here, just standing in this vast forest and near this great city. (2.) He was at home, where he was meant to be, not in some goddess-forsaken wasteland where people frequently die from dehydration. Muarim felt a little guilty that Tormod was not here to witness such as sight. This was paradise compared to the LEA base back in Begnion.

Lethe was always a serious person. She always felt that one should not act carefree or be too gentle, as though these were cardinal sins, yet as she watched Mist, Soren, Muarim, and Ike observe the city with such awe, she did not wish to break their peace. Muarim and Ike had tranquil expressions on their faces, as though they had just come home. Mist kept her mouth agape as she scampered about. Ilyana's mouth was watering at the mounds of food offered at the food vendors, and Soren had a rare peaceful look on his face.

But after a good hour, Lethe noticed that the sun began to droop under the horizon. "It will be dark, soon. I'll need to find you a place to stay. Follow me!" Lethe hissed as she scurried into the city. Lyre and the others followed her eagerly, curious about what they would see next.

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1. The song was an African American hymn, referred to (lyrics and sheet music) in Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk. Though by no means do the Gallians truly worship Ashera, I felt that this song was quite appropriate for such a title. In a way, it's also a slight refreshing piece in a fic that is hardly meant to be so soothing.

2. Admittedly, I was inspired by the fanfic Green Liberty on this site. That is one awesome fanfic and I am quite disappointed that the author has virtually abandoned it...


	2. A Thankful King

Chapter 2: A Thankful King

Mortal beings have only a limited view of the world. Yet, even they can sense its ever changing nature, even if that change is quite slow. Caineghis has lived through many seasons and has seen countless moon rises. He watched the birth of generations in peace and their deaths in war. Be they Beorc or Laguz, all sentient beings understand both the beautiful and terrible force of time and fate. During his reign, there have been several wars. About thirty years ago, Crimea and Daein were forced to ally to prevent Begnion from fulfilling its greedy desire for land and power. With the help of Gallia, Phoenicis and, eventually, Kilvas, the war came to an end. But even more recently, there was a terrible war last year in which the nation of Daein was destroyed by the combined might of the Begnion Empire and the damaged Kingdom of Crimea. Gallia had joined the fray in that fight, and as he thought of his recent actions, Caineghis felt quite guilty that heroes such as Jill, Haar, Sothe, and Tauroneo were forced to see their beloved homeland come to ruin. (1.)

Yet it was through the efforts of brave laguz like Muarim and Ranulf that had ensured that Gallia would not be next in Daein's 'menu' of nations to consume. Caineghis personally believed that he was indebted to the former slave; the laguz who for years had been forced to call himself a sub-human, and be subject to the whims of a cruel beorc 'master.' Caineghis personally could not imagine himself being in such a situation, but his grandfather had lived as a slave for some time before he became the first Laguz king.

Of course, General Ike and the other Mercenaries were deserved equal thanks for their efforts, and Caineghis intended to thank Ike in person, but, deep down, he still felt that Muarim deserved the most glorious of welcomes, because, in a way, the green tiger had finally come home.

So when Ike and Muarim entered the doors of his beloved Capital, Caineghis found it essential to welcome the two heroes to the city. He personally stepped out of his palace, shocking many of the commoner laguz, for they rarely saw their King outside of his home. Standing before the small band of veterans, Caineghis smiled and spoke:

"It is an honor to be seeing you in person, Ike of Crimea and Muarim of Gallia." Caineghis had put emphasis on the last word, and Muarim seemed a little stunned. The King of Gallia continued: "Your actions during the last great war have inspired all of us warriors here in Gallia. For too long, we believed that, by staying our ground, we'd be able to repel any threat from our border, but you've reminded us that a good offense is a good defense. By rallying our troops with your courageous march from Begnion to Daein to Crimea, you were able to show the glory that persistence brings. Even without our timely attack on occupied Crimea, your amazing army would probably still have won the war.

"Now, peace has finally come. Our allies in Daein have rallied their countrymen to rebuild their nation and end their wrongful ways, and war seems to be far into the horizon. Thus, it is time for relaxation and for us to celebrate the joy of living. I welcome you to this capital, and both of you can experience the beauty of our homeland... After all, General Ike, you were born here. And, well, Lord Muarim, you have been exiled for many years under the cruel shackle of slavery. Welcome home, great heroes, and may you never face the pain of war again!"

With those words, a cheer erupted among the commoners who listened to the speech, and Ike and Muarim, along with their companions, were ushered along the streets of the city. Merchants of all sorts would grab onto them and drag them to their shops, offering their goods at half price, for a hero deserves some reward for his or her valor. The ruckus continued as Muarim and Ike were pushed along by the crowd, and Mist sighed and exchanged an exasperated glance with Ilyana and Soren: "Did they forget that we fought with those two?"

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Hidden in the shadows of the forests outside of the city, a small band of laguz glared at the party nearby. One of them snarled angrily: "Have our brethren forgotten about the crimes those Humans committed on us?! That Muarim has no backbone if he chose to fight alongside humans, and Lethe's grown soft and weak. Laguz are meant to be stronger than humans, and they are our prey! We are not equals by any means! Our king has grown soft, our people have grown soft, but, brothers and sisters, we shall not fall for those traps. We must make some sort of plan to show our brethren the might of us laguz, and we must stop this celebration at all costs! Come, brothers, let us plan our next moves!"

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1. Some of you have expressed concern over my obsession with Tauroneo. Tauroneo is one of my absolute favorite characters, but ever since I wrote Silent Warriors, I have felt that I owed Muarim an equal tribute. Tauroneo was given his tribute via Whims of Fate. Now, this is Muarim's time to shine.


	3. Creeping Shadows

Chapter 3: Creeping Shadows

"Amazing, isn't it? Not long ago, these people would be ignoring me and acting like I didn't exist. But, simply because I stood by Ike during that war, everyone's flattering me and treating me like their new role model. Truly, their minds are so fickle." Soren sighed.

Thankfully, neither Lethe nor Lyre were around to hear it. Soren, Ike, and Ilyana were sitting in a semicircle, safe within the walls of their suite. Caineghis had made certain that they could stay in Gallia's finest Inn, which meant that the rooms they were offered were made for the biggest of laguz and for the richest of customers.

"Soren, stop being so bitter. You used to wish that people would respect you, right? Well, now they are." Ike groaned.

"No, Ike. Respect and Flattery are two different things. When you respect someone, you are likely to treat them as your equal. But, if you merely flatter someone, you are trying to take advantage of them by falsely acting humble. You are trying to make them like you so that you can manipulate their talents for your own advantage." Soren snapped.

Ilyana was a little confused: "Why are you so paranoid, Soren?"

"I am not paranoid! I am realistic. Don't you people even understand what that means? These people flatter us because they want us to do something for them. They are trying to take advantage of you, and if you let them..."

"If we let them, what then, Soren? Then they take some petty bonus at our expense, so what? Will it truly hurt us? We've been through this war, though thick and thin, through the most terrible of experiences, so anything these people can throw at us is nothing compared to those situations. We're ready for anything, for we've been through it all. There's really nothing for you to be worried about. What can these Gallian civilians do compared to Feral Ones, hmn?" Ike cocked his head to one side.

"You're too naive, Ike. It's amazing that you're still alive..." The black haired mage grumbled.

Ilyana was worried. Soren had been grumpy ever since they were greeted at Gallia's capital. What was wrong? They were in a friendly nation, surrounded by people who were all indebted to them for some degree, yet the Greil Mercenaries' tactician still had such a foul mood. It was quite perplexing and she really couldn't figure him out.

Mist, too, felt quite confused. Soren wasn't the only person who seemed uneasy. Muarim too, seemed to smell something fishy in the air. Both Mist and Lyre sensed Muarim and Soren's uneasiness. Lyre heard from Lethe that Soren was a little despicable at times, though he was a dependable and wise ally who would never turn his back on his comrades. Both Soren and Muarim intrigued Lyre, who, like Mist, tried to inquire on the mood of both of them.

Soren could only huff and warn Lyre that things are not always as they seem, and that something terrible may be looming, after all, not every Gallian was ecstatic about helping Princess Elincia during the Mad King's War. In fact, much of Gallia refused to assist Elincia in the early stages of the war, and Soren was worried about potential stragglers who would continue having a grudge against beorc and, therefore, against their small party as well.

Muarim shook his head and tried to change the subject when Lyre asked him what was wrong. He spoke vaguely, mumbling something about smelling a faint trace of beorc blood. The only beorc in Gallia at the time where their small group and scattered colonies of beorc who decided to settle in Gallia, for no apparent reason, similar to the circumstances in which Soren grew up, living in one of these forsaken colonies. If there was beorc blood, it would mean that something horrible was going on, but Muarim didn't want to think about it. They were Caineghis's friends, or at least honored guests, so how would the Gallian laguz dare to do anything to them? They seemed relatively safe.

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The leaves flew nonchalantly past the Greil Mercenary fort, and most of the fort's inhabitants dully watched them sweep past... Each of the Mercenaries were training, but they showed no enthusiasm in their workouts...

Rolf sighed and put down his bow. It was a long day of training, but the Greil Mercenaries who stayed behind were doing nothing but training. Titania was in charge, and it was a good thing that she was, or Shinon would be constantly bickering with whoever was leader. Obviously, making Shinon himself the leader might make his appointment permanent, so he couldn't be the leader.

But Rolf wasn't the only one feeling discontent about their current situation. Boyd, Gatrie, even Mia began to complain that their lives were getting boring. Ever since Ike and Soren went on vacation, Titania felt that the Greil Mercenaries should spend their time training. After all, there weren't many jobs being offered for the next few months.

Their complaints got louder day by day, to the point where the Deputy Commander herself began to feel alarmed, but Titania obdurately stood her ground. She ordered them all to stay put. After all, since Ike was gone, they could only go out if there were jobs to do, but it would be treason for them to leave the party on excursions that would serve no benefit to the entire group. There had to be order. Since the main leader was gone, it would be folly to allow anarchical tendencies to manifest themselves. Titania kept the party together with a heavy hand, but her brow was always drenched with sweat... How long could their patience hold?

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Even though the tours through Gallia were entertaining, there was so much one could do when one's companions are wary. Mist and Ilyana eventually got bored of stumbling about, hustling after an impatient Lethe or an anxious Lyre who would constantly prod them into following her. Besides, though the clamor of Gallia's capital city could warrant one's attention now and then, after a while it began to feel like any other city. Every city has its mass of people wandering about and blabbering on, and there are those hordes of folks who unleash tirades of nonsense that are rather boring. So, the two girls began to feel like taking a walk in the woods to the south of the city. Since Ilyana was a sage, and Mist knew swordsmanship, the two felt that they could defend themselves. Adding the fact that both knew how to use staves made it improbable for either of them to truly get into major trouble, as long as they stayed close to each other and did not venture too far from the others. Shortly after leaving the Inn, they quickly entered the Gallian forest to the south of the city, and were soon out of sight.

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"I smell humans..." Tonerk growled to his companions.

This small band of laguz was part of an organization known as the seemingly harmless Laguz Pride Society (LPS). This society claimed to represent the interests of all laguz in the hope that no laguz would ever be abused, enslaved, or despised on account of them being laguz. They noted that laguz injustice was still in existence in many beorc nations, and the notion of laguz inferiority even existed in laguz nations as well!

To prove that laguz inferiority existed in laguz nations, they often referred to the poverty-stricken Kilvas ravens who would often wonder if life would be better for them if they were to move to Crimea and serve as workers in that beorc land. The LPS declared that no laguz should feel the need to stoop to the status of a worker, especially as a worker toiling for beorc. LPS members often made angry statements, and the observation that laguz have been toiling for the good of beorc for too long was a common claim of theirs.

Over the years, more and more extremist individuals flooded the ranks of the LPS. Tonerk and his branch were part of this growing extremism. These members would refer to beorc as "humans," and some of them went so far as raiding beorc settlements and terrorizing the beorc inhabitants of the laguz nations to force them to relocate back to the beorc nations. Of course, this led to political tensions between nations like the Begnion Empire and Crimea, who shared borders with these laguz nations. The LPS did little to improve beorc/laguz relations, rather, they only made things much worse.

Tonerk's particular branch of the LPS were under the impression that, by kidnapping beorcs, preferably females, they could force beorc nations to listen to their demands. Thus, Mist and Ilyana were perfect targets for these laguz. Their frail bodies would not be able to stand blows from laguz paws.

Mist and Ilyana slipped away from Lethe's eyes and ventured off deep into the Gallian forest to the south of the capital. Because they were deep inside the forest, the shadows of the trees kept them from clearly seeing anything stalking the forest ahead of them. But Mist, having carried two swords, and Ilyana, carrying a Thoron tome, were confident that nothing would happen to them. They were in fact curious as to what they could see in this cool and quiet forest. Unfortunately, without warning, five tiger laguz appeared from behind them and three cats jumped from the trees in front of them.

At the head of the three cat laguz was Tonerk, who was the leader of the South Gallia branch of the LPS. He had brown skin, which was not common for a cat laguz. Snarling and hissing in laguz form, he approached the two girls with malice in his eyes.

"We come as royal guests... If this area happens to be your home territory, then we apologize for invading your privacy... We will leave immediately if you would let us go." Mist spoke hastily, controlling herself from grabbing the hilt of the Sonic Blade that was sheathed on her hip.

One of the tiger laguz behind them shifted back to humanoid form and spoke: "Humans like you are not welcome here, yet you cannot leave. We have business with the nation of Crimea, and you two may be our best bets. Just don't move and come with us, and you will not be hurt... Too badly at least." He grinned.

Ilyana and Mist knew that fighting was inevitable if they did not want to be hostages, so Mist drew her Sonic Blade, given to her as a gift from General Tanith of Begnion, and Ilyana readied her Thoron tome.

Two laguz from both their front and back pounced at them, and while Mist flicked her blade to allow a gust of wind to knock the two laguz in front of them away, Ilyana attempted to fry the pair that were trying to backstab them.

Unfortunately, both had little effect. Laguz bodies were meant to be more sturdy than beorcs, especially when transformed, and though they had low resistance to magic, they still had limited resistance against wind and thunder magic. Mist and Ilyana found that their defensive efforts were in vain. With a swing of his paw, one of the tiger laguz knocked Ilyana, and the slender girl's body slammed into a tree, knocking her unconscious. Mist used her free hand to draw a one-handed short blade. Known as Florette, she had originally trained with it under the supervision of Tauroneo, Lucia, and Mia, respectively.

She twirled her blade, confident that she'd trained enough under those three warriors to know how to deal with the situation. One of the laguz pounced forward and was rewarded with a quick slash to its front paws. Howling in pain, that laguz cringed back as Mist twirled her blade and readied herself into a defensive stance.

Her foes were not fools, and now that they knew what Mist was capable of, two of them pounced at her from her front while one attempted to strike her back. She frantically slashed forward with her Sonic Blade, knocking one laguz back on the ground, and slashed backward with Florette, but the two remaining laguz tackled her to the ground, and with a hard strike to the face, one of them knocked her unconscious..

Dragging the unconscious girls back to their cave, Tonerk and his friends exchanged grins. Soon, the Kingdom of Crimea would be forced to follow their demands. After all, they had the sister of Crimea's national hero, Ike, in custody.

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	4. Lost in the Night

Chapter 4: Lost in the Night

"Mist?" Soren wandered the halls the next morning. "Where is that girl?" Soren shook his head.

"Huh, funny finding you caring about someone else." Lethe purred playfully, emerging from one of the rooms.

"Well, Lethe, you went to breakfast earlier with the rest of us. What I find strange is that neither Mist nor Ilyana joined us for dinner yesterday, or breakfast. Mist is the younger of the pair, and, therefore, has a higher chance of being in danger. Don't you find it strange that they've been missing for so long?"

"It's good that you actually care, but, yes, that does seem strange. However, Ike doesn't seem too worried about it."

"That's because he's still suffering from the effects of the hangover last night."

Lethe raised her eyebrows: "There was a party?"

"Yes, and your sister happened to be a part of it."

"My what?!" Lethe nearly hit the ceiling. "How dare you insult my family!"

"I'm being honest. Truth hurts." Soren smirked.

"Alcohol... Wasn't involved, right?" Lethe stared into his eyes. Soren, being a normally insensitive fellow, could see the fear in her eyes.

"Wrong. There was plenty. That's why Ike wasn't even aware of Mist's disappearance. Muarim wisely avoided any of the stuff, so we might be able to search for the two girls with his assistance. Ike, Lyre, and several of the curious passers-by who came to see Crimea's hero all got dead drunk. I never thought Ike would be the type to do it, too."

"My sister... Even when drunk, she couldn't have violated the ancient law... Could she?" Lethe began to snarl. "COULD SHE?!" She glared threateningly at Soren.

The mage backed off: "Who would have thought that you have so little faith in your sister? But seriously, now, I doubt that she'd do it..."

"Huh, you're the cynical one. When even you say that she won't, then maybe she didn't... But I can't let down my guard!" Lethe hissed.

Soren shook his head: "Women." He thought. He was lucky that Lethe couldn't read his mind. Quite lucky indeed.

------------

Soren and Lethe sat at one of the tables in the Inn's lounge. Muarim eventually descended the staircase, and Soren was the first to interrogate him: "Have you noticed something strange, Muarim?"

Knowing Soren, Muarim was prepared to give Soren the most cynical answer he could think of: "Mist and Ilyana are missing, Ike was being an idiot, and Lyre might have contributed in the future birth of a Branded." Muarim nodded.

Soren smirked: "That's right!" Lethe's head hit the ceiling: "HOW DARE YOU?!"

Muarim slowly backed away from her.

"I called you a brother, Muarim, and you call my biological sister a whore?!"

Muarim winced at her choice of words. "No... Not at all. I did not call her that, I just said that Ike might have taken advantage of her..."

"Oh, that changes things then. I shall kill that beorc brute when I see him."

"I'm amazed you haven't already, knowing how powerful your temper is." Soren laughed.

Lethe glared at him, and even Soren was forced to back off.

"Anyway, we should start trying to find the two girls. It's not like them to be gone for so long." Muarim spoke.

"That's what we were thinking. If Mist's idiotic and perverted brother would get here, we'd be able to come up with a plan!" Lethe growled.

Muarim whispered in Soren's ear: "She's really touchy about that, isn't she?"

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Back in the LPS cave, Mist and Ilyana stared at Tonerk and his comrades in fear. They had torn their jackets to shreds, leaving both girls with only one layer of clothing protecting their bodies from them. Who knows? These laguz seemed more like animals than laguz like Ranulf or Lethe. These monsters might do the unthinkable, and what was once an innocent vacation may become the most terrible tragedy of their lives.

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	5. Howl of the Moon

I hadn't updated the fic for three weeks at this point, so, after having finally gotten some idea of where the fic was going, I wrote this chapter.

Chapter 5: Howl of the Moon

They came at night.

Prowling through the streets of the capital, they chanted: "Kill the Humans, Tear their Throats, Let their Blood Flow in our Streets. Rise all Laguz, Roar and Cheer, Make them Scream for Mercy and Laugh!"

Muarim sniffed the air outside the window of his hotel room: "I do not sense anything strange... If these are brother laguz, then we will have no idea how to tell them apart..."

Lethe snarled: "So there are dissidents here... It would be wise for us to stay on our guard at all times."

Ike turned to Lyre: "Why would they be so extreme? Could these be the people who kidnapped Mist?"

"Probably. In fact, it is likely that we're dealing with the same people who captured our comrades. They would want to gather as much support as possible, and..."

"Yep, I smell her... It's Mist, all right, and she's probably being paraded along the main street." Lyre nodded.

Soren turned to his friends: "Lethe, Lyre, Muarim, since you three are all laguz, and famous ones at that, these people wouldn't dare to hurt you. If you could be so kind as to step outside and tell us what is going on..."

"Definitely, Soren. We can't afford to hide now, not when so much is at stake." Muarim strolled out the door.

Lyre looked at Lethe, who was glaring at Soren, and decided to run off and join Muarim. The green tiger might not be able to hold off their foes alone.

Lethe hissed: "You think you can control me, beorc?"

"Did I order you to do anything, Lethe? Pray watch your tongue. Besides, you're a laguz. Laguz tend to take pride in bravery. Are you that willing to hide?"

"If you're so confident, why don't you march out there and show yourself?! You're no beorc, anyone can tell. Even Muarim and Lyre knows. Do you think we're blind?!" She growled, and raised her hand. Soren watched with surprise as claws began to form on the hand itself.

Ike stepped towards her: "And I thought you calmed down for once. Lethe, Soren is my dear friend, and I will not stand by and let you abuse him because of his heritage! Even though you are our hostess, your actions will force me to act accordingly. Stand down or I will defend him with my life!" (1.)

Lethe was stunned speechless by his conviction. Soren snarled: "Seriously, Lethe, I simply poke fun at Lyre and you hold such a long grudge! Can't you just act like any normal **human** for once and laugh a little? Geez..."

Lethe growled: "I'll show you laughter, when I tear your throat!" She quickly transformed and, as a panther, jumped at Soren, and Ike drew Ragnell. The blinding glare of the blade alone forced Lethe to cringe back, her eyes blinded by its glow.

"Don't make me use this weapon. No one deserves its wrath, and I do not intend to slay one of my dearest friends due to her stupidity." Ike spoke calmly.

Lethe returned to humanoid form and backed off: "Apologies, Soren... I do not know what came over me."

"Anger, that is what you need to control, Lethe. It may serve you well in battle, but you will end up slaying many a joking friend because of it. Cease your stupidity and be the person who inspired Jill to change her ways." Soren nodded sagely, trying to restore a tranquil air.

-------

Lyre and Muarim watched as Mist and Ilyana were tied to large wooden planks and dragged along by several laguz. The laguz who were escorting them snarled to the Gallian civilians watching the procession: "These are some of the humans who have invaded our lands! The laguz who escorted them here are being cowards, worthless cowards who believe that by succumbing to the humans, we shall find peace. There will be never be peace for laguz as long as humans are alive! By capturing these two females, we will draw the humans towards us like flies, and we will crush them, every one of them! Brothers and Sisters, let us rise against the humans and kill them all! Let us avenge our siblings who fell at their hands! Let us show Tellius the might of the Laguz!"

"It's unsafe here... We have to contact the King as soon as possible..." Lyre grabbed Muarim's paw as the two rushed back to the hotel.

----------

"We cannot hope to reach the palace during the night, not while the Royal Guards are asleep and the enemy is active. We will have to wait till the morning." Lethe pointed out, having been calmed by both Ike and Soren.

"In that case, Ike, you have weak night vision compared to our laguz comrades, so you can sleep. I will exchange shifts with the others. Muarim, Lethe, you two are more competent fighters than Lyre and I, especially considering the fact that I refused to master Fire magic. Wind and Thunder magics are not nearly as effective against beasts, and though I have mastered Wind to its final class, it will not be enough to stop several packs of laguz. Therefore, Muarim and I will take one shift, and Lethe will take the other shift with Lyre. Are we all clear?" Soren asked.

"The problem is, Soren, that both of our parties will be drowsy in the morning." Muarim pointed out.

"Coffee, my good friend. Coffee will be our savior tomorrow. But enough with the jokes. We have work to do..." Soren nodded as Ike, Lethe, and Lyre went to sleep...

The night passed with the roars of their foes outside, but, for now, they were unharmed. Who knew what the next day would bring?

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1. I apologize in advance for anyone who is misled by this comment. This is not an Ike/Soren fic.

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	6. A Torn Paradise

If the last chapter seemed anticlimactic, it's because I didn't want to cram everything into one chapter. Please enjoy.

Chapter 6: A Torn Paradise

"Your majesty, the provinces of Klath and Gwor have split away from the rest of the kingdom. A major uprising has broken out in every province south of Arsh, and rioting has broken out in the Capital itself..." A laguz official reported to Caineghis.

Skimir turned to his uncle: "What have our brothers done?"

"It's probably unsafe for Ike and the others to be here... Speak of the devil!" Ranulf gasped to himself when Ike and Lethe burst in, along with their friends.

"Your majesty..." Lyre began.

"I know, the rioting in the streets last night. They started in other neighborhoods, and spread to the area outside your hotel. I apologize..." Caineghis nodded.

"Forgive me, but you don't understand. They kidnapped my sister! They're parading her and Ilyana around the streets, clamoring about some laguz pride issue..." Ike yelled.

"Ike..." Lethe hissed.

"Your majesty, we will have to call upon our friends The Greil Mercenaries for assistance..." Soren spoke.

"... And it seems that you'll need to call upon my Royal Army as well. These people seem to be revolting all across Gallia. Two entire provinces have rebelled and are mobilizing troops against me!" Caingehis growled.

"So it's come to this... We come to a vacation to enter another war. Muarim, it looks like you'll have to stay for us awhile. We won't be able to reunite with Tormod anytime soon..." Soren sighed.

A Gallian messenger quickly ran north towards Crimea, while Ike, his small band of comrades, and the Gallian Royal Army prepared themselves for the inevitable.

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"Zihark! It's so surprising to see that you've come!" Titania greeted the lavender-haired swordsmaster as he entered the Mercenary Fort.

"I need to deliver something to Ike. Is he available?" Zihark asked, his eyes scanning the fortification.

"He went to Gallia a few days ago. We haven't heard from him since." Rhys answered.

"But, anyways, come in! It's great to see old friends." Oscar smiled as he stepped aside to let Zihark tour the fort.

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The next day, the Gallian messenger arrived. Upon hearing the news that Ike needed them, the Greil Mercenaries moved out to Gallia. (1.) By, then, however, all of the southern provinces of Gallia had revolted and came together to create the "nation" known as "True Gallia." Led by the "Genuine Gallian Militia," these rebels rallied behind Tonerk and his men. Apparently, the LPS was split between extremists and those idealists who stood by those ideals of laguz sovereignty. Tonerk, gathering support among the Gallian populace, sent his armies marching towards the capital, a capital that was already being divided between Tonerk's supports and the Gallian loyalists.

Arriving at the capital gates, the Greil Mercenaries found their way barred by the revolutionaries. All around the palace, hundreds of these rebels marched towards Caineghis and his Royal Guards, demanding that Gallia be "Genuine," and that Caineghis, the Cowardly King, surrender to Tonerk and allow Gallia to become a genuine nation. Ike, Ranulf, Muarim, Soren, Lethe, and Lyre found themselves among the bands of Gallian Royal Army troops stationed in the capital and the Gallian Royal Guards. With their comrades beside them, the King's men found themselves in a precarious position indeed. "Why must it come to this? The last thing any of us wants is to kill our laguz siblings, but they have forced us into this position..." Muarim sighed. "No matter what we think, they obviously won't hear us out. We'll have to set things right again. Move Out!" Ike ordered.

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1. This includes Zihark, just to let you know.


	7. A Crimson City

Chapter 7: A Crimson City

With a roar, the Gallian rebels stormed the streets of Gallia's capital city, trashing everything in sight. All untransformed laguz who had not joined the rebels beforehand were mauled on sight. Transformed laguz were forced to fight dozens of aggressors for their lives. Men, women, children, all laguz who were not part of the rebellion were slaughtered. Muarim, Lethe, and Lyre could not take the sight any longer. As Ranulf, Skimir, Giffca, and Caineghis led the Gallian Royal Army, Muarim suddenly transformed and ran ahead of his comrades into the streets.

The Gallian rebels had no idea that there were war veterans standing before them. When Muarim appeared, the rebels came onto him in packs of five. Muarim scoffed inwardly: he fought Feral Ones head on for the good of Crimea. What made these imbeciles think that they could possibly fight him?

A gray tiger charged at Muarim from the left. With a single swing of his paw, the green tiger knocked his wayward brother unconscious. Lyre gasped at the sight. This green tiger, who had tears fall from his eyes as he struck his brothers, could harbor such strength and conviction in battle.

Muarim was determined not to kill anyone, so as his attackers jumped at him, he would merely swing his paw and knock them on the jaw, causing them to black out. He would not attack them any further. However, those attacking him intended to kill him, so they tried to tear his throat with their claws and jaws. Muarim had to ensure both his own and his opponent's safety.

The same could not be said for Skimir. The young Lion eagerly tore the throats out of his opponents. The sight of the blood, though it didn't frighten Lethe in the least, made her feel sorrowful that the Prince of Gallia was so bloodthirsty. A Prince should be both a powerful warrior and a kind soul who would care for the people, not a brave brute who loved the heat of battle and the thrill of tearing out an opponent's throat.

In a way, both sisters seemed to agree that they were glad that they had Muarim closer to them than Skimir. Skimir's fiery and intimidating eyes were in sharp contrast to Muarim's softer, more pained ones.

Soren sighed. Not long ago, he would have been like Skimir, except that each laguz that died by his hands would have given him joy because he once hated them. The laguz had treated him horribly because of his heritage, and, for a second there, Lethe nearly used the fact that Soren was a Branded to attack him. But after being with laguz like Ranulf, Muarim, Mordecai, and, admittedly, Lethe herself, Soren eventually calmed down. Lyre really helped things, as she was chipper and liked to joke around, much like Ranulf. Muarim was kind and noble, and tried to befriend Soren, who greatly appreciated his kindness. Soren shivered at the thought that soon, he'd be like Muarim, forced to attack these wayward laguz for the good of Gallia. With Ike by his side, the two friends led their fellow veterans to join Muarim as the green tiger continued to down hordes of enemies ahead.

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"Everyone, Ike's waiting for us! It is our duty as his family and as his subordinates to march forward and rescue him!" Titania yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Pah..." Shinon sighed. He hated it when Ike was glorified. However, no one else shared his sentiment: They were all loyal to Ike. "General Tauroneo would never forgive me if I failed to watch over his nephew in his place. Let us go and make certain that Ike is well!" Zihark yelled. The Greil Mercenaries slammed into the gate, breaking it apart. Oscar and Titania rode at the vast group of rebel Gallians, hacking a path through them while Gatrie, Mia, Boyd, and Zihark slashed about at the remainder. Rhys, Rolf, and Shinon aided their comrades by blasting their foes with light magic and tearing them to pieces with arrows.

But the rebellion would not cease when faced with this show of force. The small band of mercenaries found themselves surrounded by more than six hundred enemy laguz. Thousands of reinforcements for the rebellion poured in from all directions, and the Mercenaries were mere pebbles in the flood by comparison. (1.)

Zihark led the way. Wielding a wicked Killer Edge, he found that nine laguz were trying to cut him off from his other comrades. The warrior sighed when he realized that, on behalf of the greater good, he was betraying his own ideals of not hurting laguz. Swinging his blade, he dived forward and, with a flurry of slashes, brought five of these laguz to their knees. Oscar soon arrived on horseback to drive the remaining four away.

Titania and Shinon found themselves hemmed in. Rolf and Mia tried to rescue them, but found that they, too, were being overwhelmed. Forced to sit back and protect Rolf, Mia stood so close to the boy that he could feel her body heat. If Mia was this worried about him, Rolf knew that this battle was no simple riot. No, this was a much greater conflict, and knowing that she was his main hope for survival, he stayed close to Mia, his elbow nearly touching her hip as he drew his bowstring.

Titania twirled her heavy ax and plunged in down on many a vicious laguz, splitting her opponents in half. She could not show mercy to animals who would not understand her sentiments. Shinon was even less merciful. He used a Venin Bow to ensure that the laguz who attacked him would have slow and painful deaths. The master bowman knew exactly where to hit his opponents in order for the poison to run through their veins.

Rhys quickly joined Mia and Rolf, and the three did what they could to avoid getting killed. Boyd, finding himself alone and surrounded, swung his ax with a yell and hacked away at any paws that got too close.

Four laguz charged head on at an undefended Rhys while Mia and Rolf were busy trying to hold other beasts off. Rhys, realizing that he had one chance to save his neck, cast Rexaura! The blinding blast of light engulfed all four laguz at once, killing all four of them with that extreme heat. (2.)

The glare could be spotted from miles away, and Soren, seeing the flash of light, gasped with joy: "Rhys is here. That must mean that Titania and the others are coming, too. Ike, if we fight towards where that flash of light was, we'll be reunited with our comrades quicker. Muarim! Cover our backs! We're going to fetch our reinforcements!" Soren yelled at the green tiger, who nodded in return. Soren motioned for Lethe and Lyre to support their fellow laguz comrade.

Soren and Ike had to protect each other from the vast number of enemy laguz. As allied Laguz under the Gallian Royal Army tackled enemy rebels all around them, there were many opportunities for rebel laguz to slip through and strike the two heroes. Soren readied his Tornado tome, blowing foes in mid-leap away from the pair. Ike drew Ragnell, and the blade let out glowing slashes of energy that tore enemies apart.

The howls of beasts all around them made both Soren and Ike quite uneasy. They couldn't tell whether it was an ally screeching in pain or a foe being taken down. Suddenly, a flash of red hair caught Soren's eye, and Titania emerged from within the mob of vicious beasts. Swinging her Silver Axe to and fro, Titania hacked away at the horde of foes. As the blood began to soak into the soil, the rebels began to realize that their attack on the capital was not going as planned. In fact, the Gallian Royal Army was much stronger than they had anticipated, and the arrival of the Greil Mercenaries wasn't helping any.

"Titania!" Soren yelled.

"Soren! Ike!" The older woman shouted back in shock.

"The others, are they safe?" Ike inquired.

"Rhys, Mia, and Rolf are still engaging the enemy. Shinon was right behind me..." She turned, but found that the sniper was lost in the midst of enemy troops. "We'll have to go back there and save them." She sighed and pulled on the reigns to force her horse to turn back.

"No matter what, it's a blessing to find you alive." Soren nodded. Titania gave him a smile: "Thank you, Soren..." Though the war was a horrible event that ruined all of their lives, Titania was glad that, in a way, the war helped Soren become a much friendlier person, even though he was still quite stern.

Fifty enemy laguz were blocking their way. Soren, realizing that Titania and Ike alone could not take them out in time to save Shinon, decided to take a risk. Focusing his energy, he fired a bolt of lightning in the center of the enemy group, on a small puddle of salty water that was left over from the frequent rains in Gallia. The puddle glowed with electricity and the electric bolts, now losing their charge, flew outwards in order to find a way to become grounded. Unfortunately, that involved striking each of the laguz in range, and all of the laguz were fried instantaneously from the bolts. Thus, with a single Thoron spell, Soren knocked out fifty enemy laguz. Titania immediately charged forward and picked up the downed Shinon, who mumbled curses like: "Blasted subs... If only they weren't cowardly enough to take me at close range..." (3.)

Ike and Soren charged forward towards Rhys, Mia, and Rolf, who were trying to keep themselves alive. Gatrie hacked away at an enemy tiger in front of him and rushed to their assistance. With the three of them driving away the enemy laguz, the original Greil Mercenaries were finally reunited. On the back of an allied tiger, Zihark arrived. By then, the rebels were nearly routed, for Lyre and Ranulf's combined attacks and stratagems helped to outwit and demoralize the rebels, while Giffca, Skimir, and Caineghis were able to tear their ranks apart. Caineghis, like Muarim, succeeded in downing most of his opponents, and Giffca killed as few as he could. Skimir, however, had the most kills of all allies present. Almost every rebel he fought died by his paws and fangs. The King's nephew seemed to enjoy the taste of blood.

-------

Caineghis watched with sorrow as the wounded surviving and conscious rebels fled from the capital. Ranulf sighed as well, and explained to Ike and the others that: "By no means does this mean that the rebellion is over. Our victory here only means that our side has a chance of surviving. If the capital fell, our morale would plummet, and most of our troops would join the rebels. Many of our remaining provinces would probably rebel against us too. Considering the number of kills Skimir caused..." Ranulf took a moment to glare at his superior. "The rebels might rally their troops into a frenzy due to the number of casualties they've taken. After all, good things are never spread around, and the lack of casualties the rest of us caused will be ignored in favor of Skimir's numerous slain foes. We must prepare for the worst."

"This would mean, comrades, that we should call for reinforcements from the Northern Provinces, and if we do, Crimea is bound to be aware of our situation and get involved, considering the fact that they so eagerly want to repay Gallia for its assistance during the Mad King's War. Though it wouldn't be pleasant to find our rebels extremely infuriated by the fact that we accept help from a beorc nation. However, considering the fact that Ike's very presence, as well as my own, is extremely insulting to them, I think it's imperative that we ask Crimea for help." Soren spoke.

"But isn't it about time that we rescue Mist and Ilyana?!" Ike yelled.

"Done!" Someone shouted from afar.

Oscar appeared, with both Mist and Ilyana on his horse.

Ike's eyes bulged: "How... How did he?..."

Soren smirked: "I was wondering where you were, squinty. So you did our primary job for us. Well, now that we've saved the two of them, we're in the middle of a war. We climbed out of a boiling pot only to fall right into the flames. Rhys, you ought to take care of the two of them while Ranulf, Lyre, Muarim, Titania, and myself plan our next moves. Oscar, since you are such a skillful rider, ride up to Melior, insult Kieran, and have him pursue you all the way back here with his troops. That'll force Geoffrey to go after him, and, thus, the Crimean Army will be close enough for me to walk out and ask them for assistance."

Oscar shook his head. He'd never seen Soren in such a good mood before. Had someone given him sugar or something? The warrior decided to follow the tactician's demand and head north for Melior. Sooner or later the rebels would return, and when that moment arrives, they would need all the friends they could get.

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1. There is an awesome free turn-based strategy game called Battle for Wesnoth. The phrase "pebbles in the flood" comes from a hopeless mission in that game. (In that mission, the only way to win is for you to hold off the enemy for as long as possible, and for you have to let every single one of your playable characters die, including one of my favorite ones: Uzela Azlef.)

2. Logically, the only damage Light could do is to blind someone. A blinded man can still swing an ax, for example, and kill someone. However, Light, in the context of this fic, can burn and incinerate foes. How is it different than Fire? Light causes heat, but not as extremely as fire. It cannot cause as much damage as Fire because of this. In the end, Light Magic is inferior to Fire magic, but is unaffected by the trinity. Light also has 'holy' properties, and can heal its user in some cases. Rexaura does not have as great a healing capacity as Norstefasu, but the user is still healed somewhat from it.

3. Never took Physics, so if I'm wrong, well, too bad, it's a FANFIC about Fire Emblem. How scientifically correct do you expect it to be:)

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	8. Friends and Foes

Chapter 8: Friends and Foes

Oscar followed Soren's advice perfectly. As the squinty-eyed knight began to flee from Melior, an enraged Kieran chased after him with about twenty of Crimea's swiftest riders. Kieran's cheeks were flushed bright red, quite a match with his red armor. Geoffrey sighed. Kieran had always been so irritable, and it was truly annoying to deal with him when he was angry. The General reared his horse and pursued Kieran.

"Just a minute, stalwart warrior. Would thou mind if I came with thee?" Bastian asked in his typical eccentric and pseudo-poetic language. Geoffrey gave him a glare: "Very well, Bastian. But, I beg of you, stop trying to look like a poet. You merely make a fool of yourself." Bastian gasped: "Good sir, I am offended! Thou art not a gentlemen if thou utters such words!"

Geoffrey rolled his eyes: "No matter, just get on."

The unfortunate Geoffrey had to deal with Bastian's gibberish as the best of the Crimean calvary riders chased after the irate Kieran.

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Soren smirked when Oscar arrived shortly after Gallian reinforcements organized themselves into their respective posts. Kieran, hot on Oscar's tail, began to realize that he was deep in Gallian territory. The red knight spotted Soren, and was not sure how to proceed.

Knowing that Kieran wouldn't dare hurt him, Soren stepped forward and waited. Sure enough, Geoffrey and Bastian came into view.

"I thank thee for thy help, good sir." Bastian nodded at Geoffrey.

"Yes... There is no need to think me..." Geoffrey looked like he was about to puke.

Soren stepped towards Bastian: "Duke of Felirae, I am the Master Tactician of the Greil Mercenaries. I believe we've met."

"Ah, Soren, long time no see! How art thou doing?"

"Quite well. I see that you haven't changed a bit. Now, I have lured you here so that I can finally speak to you in person. The nation of Gallia is torn in civil war, and as I am Ike's strategist and he is currently assisting His Majesty Caineghis, I would like to have all the help I can get... I really regret asking this, but is Crimea willing to assist us?"

"There is nothing that Crimea will not do for Gallia. The Gallian army is quite fortunate to have you by their side, Master Soren. Consider us your loyal allies. General Geoffrey, I've made a political alliance between us. Are you willing to provide the muscle for that alliance?" Bastian turned to look at Geoffrey.

Geoffrey smiled at Ike: "It's good to see you again, Ike. Yes, the Crimean Royal Army shall hereby assist its Gallian counterpart in this endeavor. Master Soren, as Bastian isn't really a military mastermind, I leave my soldiers in your care."

"Thank you, General." Soren nodded.

"Bastian, I will have to return to Melior to report this to her majesty. The soldiers I have brought here are hardly sufficient to help destroy the rebels, but they should be able to repel two legions at least. I ask that you stay here and assist Ike and his comrades. I will ask my sister to aid you as well." Geoffrey nodded.

"Very well, then. It's an honor to plot with you, Soren." Bastian smirked.

Geoffrey rode off into the distance alone, and the Gallian and Crimean armies began to plan their next moves.

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The Gallian rebels mumbled incoherently outside a small border post connecting Begnion to Gallia. They were not pleased at seeing their leader converse with humans, but it seemed that this human was willing to accept their sovereignty and assist the revolution, so they were willing to tolerate him.

"Senator Valtome, I regret to inform you that my brothers were unable to destroy those zealous loyalists. I assure you that your support for our cause was not in vain: we've made them horrified at the extent of our strength. Your assistance has done wonders for my brothers, and for that I must thank you."

"Get to the point, Tonerk." The slender brown haired man stroked his curly locks. "Is my investment worthwhile, or not? I could spend my money on many other fabulous things, you know."

"Your investment is more than worthwhile. They might have won the capital, but soon enough we'll decimate them completely. I merely ask for some of your personal assistance."

"And why would I want that?"

"Isn't that what you've been planning this entire time, to allow my brethren to purify Gallia and ensure that we will not block Begnion's plan to conquer Crimea? I am not blind, Senator, I know what you've been planning with Senator Lekain. I can easily smell your plot. But, that's not the issue here. With your personal assistance, the small Crimean army that has come to aid the royalists will be annihilated." (1.)

"You're rather bright for a s-laguz. No wonder why Lekain thought that you were a perfect ally. Very well, Tonerk. I will send you a third of my personal guard and a fourth of my personal legion of Pegasus Knights. Will that do?"

"That would fit perfectly with our plans. Thank you, Senator."

"Show me some results, Tonerk, and you can be certain that I'll be a fine ally."

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"Masters Soren and Bastian, the Lady Lucia has arrived." A Crimean soldier announced.

Soren and Bastian, in the middle of planning, rolled their eyes. These soldiers, stiff with their sense of following orders to the last exclamation point, would not let them have their peace. Thinking required tranquility and quiet, which was nonexistent when one happens to be the master strategist of the army. "Very well, let her in." They both groaned.

Letting her in was one of the best times of Soren's life.

She entered the door, radiant blue hair flowing down the sides of her face. Her white jacket seemed rather fitting for her, as it matched her skin tone. Her creamy flesh glowed with an almost holy aura as she stepped into the room. As Soren looked at Lucia, he began to wonder why he had never tried to actively speak with the girl before. Of course, as allies, they did talk to each other, but those talks were strictly of battle tactics, as both were tacticians... Except for one particular day:

_Soren and Lucia are sitting at a small table in the courtyard of Crimea Castle. Ashnard had finally been defeated and the warriors of Crimea were celebrating their victory. Though she was a little annoyed at the fact that Geoffrey hadn't called off the celebration yet, she believed that this was a time for Crimeans to be merry. After all, they had won back their country._

_The servant set up a small tea tray on the table, and both strategists picked up their respective tea cups and began to drink._

_"Beautiful, isn't it?" She blurted absentmindedly, her eyes looking at the large garden before them. Only days ago, that garden had been covered with blood, but after the bodies were buried and after Rhys gave them his prayers, the garden began to return to its former vibrancy._

_"Yes..." Soren murmured, draining his cup with another quick gulp._

_She eyed him curiously, wondering why he'd down his cup so readily. Soren met her gaze with a mild, bitter amusement. It was a little rude based on the strict manners of the royal court, but why should he care? He was a commoner, a brilliant one, but still a commoner._

_Yet why was she so focused on him? He was but one of the Sages who traveled in the Crimean Army, and she easily had many other potential sages to lay her eyes on. There was the chipper Tormod, and the handsome Bastian. Ilyana was an adorable female Sage and Calill's elegance was still quite intact. Yet she was staring at him._

_"Lady Lucia, is there something on my face?" Soren asked. She could tell by his voice that he was getting irritated, and scoffed at the fact that he was so irritable._

_"It's nothing..." She spoke, turning her eyes away from him. "I was merely thinking and happened to be staring at you. I've seen you do the same thing."_

_He could tell that she was irritated now, but why? Why did she seem to care about him, her, of all people? He remembered that he had helped her in a fight once, blasting two enemy Generals with a well-placed Elthunder, but he was just being a comrade. That was his job, wasn't it? She confused him, and Soren hated mysteries that involved people._

_Lucia looked away from Soren, but in her heart she was thinking about the mage. He was quite skilled for his apparent age, yet Lucia sensed that things were not what they seemed. Many of his thought processes and tactics seemed far more mature than what would be assumed by his appearance, after all, he looked fifteen. Soren was brave and loyal to Ike, very much like how she was loyal to Elincia, and would willingly die for her milk sister, the girl who truly was her sister in every way but blood._

_She knew that Soren thought highly of her, which is why he would try to convince her to stay out of the lesser fights and enter the main fray. When Ike asked for his veterans, his champions to stand by him in the final fight against Ashnard, Soren chose her in that list of heroes, as her speed would easily allow her to outmaneuver her opponents and tear them apart with the cold steel of her blade. (2.)_

_What made him so moody? What made him so angry? She could not understand what would have hurt him so greatly. She spent the last twenty years of her life as a noblewoman, a girl who lived in the palace, with a life of luxury and riches. People obeyed her requests and treated her like something more important than they themselves were. But Soren, Soren acted as though he couldn't trust anyone... He went through a hard life, that mage, yet, for some reason, the two of them had their lives intertwined, and together they went through this grueling hardship, this dire challenge, and emerged from it victorious. Life works funny that way._

_"Soren..." She suddenly spoke, startling herself with that bluntness._

_"Yes?" He turned to her, raising an eyebrow._

_"It... It was nice knowing you..." She smiled, feeling rather awkward talking to him like this._

_Soren looked at her intently for a few seconds, then gave her a smirk and replied: "Likewise..."_

-------------

But now two years had passed. Lucia was growing into a slender and beautiful young woman, with many suitors relentlessly pursuing her, including, of course, Bastian. Soren looked away from her, rather embarrassed. He thought of Ilyana, the young mage who was captured along with Mist. Ilyana had been flirting with him lately and he happened to be flattered by it. Yet no matter how Ilyana humored him, Lucia simply seemed superior.

Lucia smiled: "Master Bastian, it's good to see you, as always. Master Soren, it's been a while."

"Indeed... Thy fair beauty far outshines the sun!" Bastian squeaked. Lucia rolled her eyes. She tried to be polite with him, but Bastian was simply so irritating that he could easily test her patience.

"Lady Lucia, it's an honor to see you again... With you here, victory is so much more probable." Soren felt so awkward. He had little experience in dealing with people, after all, he'd spent most of his life distrusting them. Now he found it difficult to talk to Lucia.

She kept her smile: "You flatter me, Soren. But still, we can't just throw compliments around. We do have a job, right? Let's put down this rebellion and save Gallia."

"Right." Soren nodded, sweat pouring down the back of his neck. He felt so embarrassed and he had no idea why.

--------

"Ike." Zihark looked intently at the commander. The two men were standing before each other in Ike's command tent.

"What is it, Zihark?" Ike asked, interest in his eyes. Ike had a normally serious nature, but among close friends, he would show a much more casual side.

"This is for you." Zihark drew a bluish blade from a brown sheath. The blade had an isosceles triangle carved on the bottom, and it seemed much lighter than Ragnell when Ike held it in his hands and twirled it around. "The blade is known as 'Ettard,' a weapon forged by Tyson, the same man who crafted Urvan and the Wishblade." "Thank you, Zihark..." Ike gasped, letting his finger run across the flat portion of the sword.

"Don't thank me. Tyson is an old friend of General Tauroneo." Zihark smiled. "Tauroneo, he's still alive? That's a relief... It's been quite a few months since I last spoke to my uncle." Ike mumbled, thrusting Ettard forward to test its efficiency.

"The General thought that you needed a lighter blade to help with most missions. Ragnell is powerful, but its heavy. Ettard is more focused on stabbing and striking, rather than splitting the opponent in half like Ragnell, that makes it a different blade to use, but one that will be more practical against most foes, besides Generals, Wyvern Riders, or mounted Knights, of course." Zihark nodded.

"Well, thank you anyway, Zihark, for helping him deliver it. But I won't be able to go anywhere until this mission is done. We have a lot of work to do, and I need people like you to help me finish it!" Ike raised Ettard and cheered.

----------

Their planning took all night, and after a few hours, Bastian decided to call it quits. Lucia wanted to continue making another backup strategy with Soren regarding the storming of the rebel capital, but Soren told her that, since she just arrived, it would be a good idea for her to get some rest. She smiled at his generosity and agreed, allowing herself to retreat to the guest quarters. The raven haired mage continued to scrutinize his tactical notes, trying to think like the enemy, when Ilyana suddenly walked in on him.

"Soren, you're becoming an insomniac. Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?" She smiled sweetly. Soren turned and looked at her. "But our comrades need my plans for success... I can't afford to..." Ilyana stroked his cheek: "But, silly, you shouldn't tire yourself to death, right? You're our most important tactician..."

Soren shook his head. Ilyana had been annoying him for far too long. He couldn't understand her. Why would she have such a great interest in him? He wasn't really much smarter than her. After all, she was the one who taught him Thoron, as Calill was annoyed by his sternness and thus unwilling to tutor him more than the basics in Thunder magic.

"I'll be fine..." He spoke abruptly, startling her. "Ike needs these plans to be clear-cut by noon tomorrow, and I have no intention of failing him. Thank you, Ilyana, but I'll sleep later. Good night."

Ilyana let out an irritated huff as she turned and walked out the door.

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1. This fic is not intended to tie in with Radiant Dawn. It is a fic that is meant to have a different chain of events, like Folly of Man, only that this is the improved version... Or will be...

2. I don't really use Lucia that much, but I've noted that she's proven rather useful in the Trial Maps. Maybe it's luck, I don't know, but she does seem like an awesome character! And, well, heck, if Mia's speed is better, so what? I never liked Mia much anyway... (Don't shoot me, people...)

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	9. Men Don't Talk

Author's note: Thanks to the advice of two readers/reviewers, I have made edits to almost every chapter. There are some areas where I'm pretty sure I need improvement but I can't seem to find out how to improve them. This fic does seem a little mediocre to me, but I lack the sophistication, I suppose, to truly understand what is wrong with it... But I hope that you enjoy the fic, dear reader.

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Chapter 9: Men Don't Talk

Zihark left Ike's tent with mixed emotions. General Ike was the same hero he remembered, yet, he witnessed firsthand Ike's transformation from a brave boy to a glorious man. Time itself seemed to pass by so quickly, yet little had changed when it came to Zihark's own life. His dream of helping all laguz live in peace and harmony seemed to fail when he himself was forced to join one army of laguz against another.

Yet Ike had changed so much, and he had accomplished great things in such a short time. Zihark felt rather outclassed by the younger swordsman, and though he respected Ike greatly, he also was a little jealous of him, to be honest.

Muarim noticed Zihark's somber expression as the lavender haired swordsmaster walked by, and decided to speak up. "Zihark, are you doing well?"

Zihark seemed to snap awake, as though he were in a trance: "Muarim! I'm sorry I didn't greet you earlier. How's it been?"

Muarim was concerned for Zihark. Though his friend did phase out and say strange things every once in a while, it was apparent that something was really bothering him. "I'm fine, Zihark, but are you fine? You seem lost, as though you were traveling a path and took a wrong turn long ago."

Zihark turned to the burly tiger. Muarim was rather observant, as he usually was. The beorc warrior sighed and mumbled: "Muarim, do you ever wonder why you've embarked on this mission?"

"Well, not really. I came here to see the land of my brethren, to meet fellow beast laguz. Yet, I stand here today to defend the stability of that very land. These rebels threaten to tear Gallia apart, and though I am not a Gallian citizen, I cannot let that happen."

"Well, I... See it differently."

"What do you mean?"

"Muarim, there are still many things I do not know about you, and I'm sure the situation is likewise. I am a Daein citizen, and..."

"You come from Daein, yet you are so adamantly supportive of the laguz. Furthermore, you fell in love with one. That's surprisingly tolerant."

"Thank you... But, since I grew up watching laguz get butchered, I always believed that it was my duty to make up for my sins and stand beside the laguz no matter what. Yet, now I'm taking sides in a laguz civil war, slaying them without rea..."

"Zihark, the Daein warriors who stick to their hatred of laguz slay them without reason. Compared to Skimir, you killed very few laguz lives. Besides, each of the people we kill died for a reason. They died supporting their dream: a dream where all beorc are forever banished from Gallian territory, and are slaughtered as mercilessly as other beorc once killed laguz in the past. Are they not acting just like those Daeins, only that they are laguz instead of beorc? You know very well why you joined this faction instead of the other, and you should not trouble yourself any further with such negative thoughts. We may be killing laguz, that much is true, but both of us and many of our comrades have done what we can to keep enemy casualties to a minimum."

"And how does that change the fact that by standing by your sides, I'm helping in the slaughter of laguz?"

"Look at it this way, would you rather let thousands die to save hundreds, or hundreds perish to save thousands?"

"I'd... I see your point."

"Better we kill some of these rebels and end the bloodshed, than let thousands of Gallians perish from this pathetic civil war."

"I... See... Thank you, Muarim." Zihark nodded and walked away.

Muarim stared after his friend until Zihark slowly went out of sight. The green tiger shook his head and trudged back to his own quarters.

------------

Soren slammed his head against the desk. Lucia's eyes widened as the messenger continued to inform them of the enemy's movements: "You have got to be kidding me..." She stammered, twitching a little in shock.

"These are the reports given by our scouts, they are as accurate as can be." The Crimean messenger nodded.

Soren glanced at Lucia, who was scrutinizing the war map laid out in front of them. "If that is the case, well..." She returned the stare he was giving her. "Well, we're back to square one. If we were to continue our previous plan, our supply lines would be quickly raided and our main force would probably get cut off from this base. That would mean that they'd take the capital, and Gallia would be either finished or extremely demoralized. We must make a new plan."

Bastian looked amused: "Thou hast assumed thy foe's moves, and thy assumptions have all proved wrong..." Soren and Lucia both gave him glares, and the blond sage realized that his amusement was probably in very bad taste.

"I would understand if they'd used a westerly route, as that would bring them closer to their base at Kalak, but to move in an easterly fashion... It's... It's suicide, unless..." Soren stopped his muttering to address the messenger directly: "Did our scouts report seeing pegasi or ravens in the enemy ranks?"

The messenger stood for a second, and blinked: "No. They did not."

Soren shook his head: "Something's fishy... Either they have reinforcements who are more familiar with the borders near Begnion or... Or they're trying to lure us to their position..."

Lucia saw that look of worry in Soren's eyes, and knew that the situation couldn't possibly be pleasant. "Bastian, please tell General Ike, Lord Skimir, Sirs Ranulf and Muarim, and the Ladies Lethe and Lyre to report to this tent immediately. It seems that we've a greater problem than we thought..."

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Endnote: If you're wondering why I chose that particular title, well, it's an old saying that "Men don't talk." However, in this particular character study / attempt by me at characterization, they did talk, quite a bit. But they really didn't go into some truly deep conversation (at least, to me.) So, yeah, please stay tuned!


	10. Death From Above

Chapter 10: Death From Above

The air was thick with fear and as tense as a deer spotting a wolf. At least, that's how Ike felt as his eyes scanned each of his comrade's facial expressions. They were sitting around the circular table of the war room, with Soren sitting on the tallest chair. It wasn't that he was shorter than the others, even though that did help, it was due to the fact that he was their master strategist, and it was imperative that they stay attentive to what he was about to say.

Skimir was rather impatient, so as Soren was nervously clearing his throat, Skimir snarled. "Well, what do you have to say, tiny beorc?"

The young tactician did not appreciate being insulted so childishly, and was about to open his mouth when Lethe suddenly cut him off. "He is Gallia's future prince, so it would be unwise to be rude to him."

Soren grumbled slightly, and many of the attendees: Ranulf, Lucia, Ike, and Muarim, shifted uncomfortably in their seats. This would not bode well.

"But, Lord Skimir, Soren is the Master Strategist of the Greil Mercenaries, and it is through his efforts that Gallia and her allies won the Mad King's War. It would be wise for you not to treat him with such disrespect, as he is a rather brilliant person." Lethe turned to her superior, giving a light bow of the head, but keeping her glare fixed on him the entire time.

Skimir, quite annoyed, got the message and smiled cordially. "I'm sorry, young Master. Can you begin planning sooner?"

Soren tried to smile. "The plans are done, Milord. Now, I regret to inform you that Lucia and I have either overestimated the enemy's intelligence, or we have been unable to gather sufficient data regarding their troop strength and the types of units they currently have."

Muarim raised an eyebrow. "You've made a mistake without gathering enough data? That doesn't sound like you, Soren... Something's clearly not right."

Soren nodded. "I was getting to that, Muarim. Now, I suppose you're wondering why I've gathered all of you here. Take a look at this." Soren reached under the table and revealed a scroll that he carefully unraveled in front of the attendees. They each tried to keep it straight and smooth on the table, and Skimir was the first to exclaim, "It's a map!"

Soren gave Skimir a look of pity as he sighed. "Yes, it's a map. A map of the Tomori mountain range, the range that divides Gallia and Goldoa from Begnion. Now, take a look at this fort, Fort Susa. My sources tell me that it is currently under Rebel control, but look how close it is to the Begnion border. Our scouts have informed me that the enemy is currently moving in that small patch of forest to the east of our position between the mountains, and they're probably going to hit us either from the north east, after crossing the mountains, or they'll hit us from the east itself, through the mountains. They wouldn't go through the mountains under any normal circumstances, for beast laguz tend to have trouble traversing over such terrain, but it seems like they are..."

Muarim scratched his chin with his paw. "Forgive me, Soren, are you saying that we might be dealing with Pegasus Knights?"

Soren smiled and turned to Lucia. "Finally, somebody else gets it!"

"... I don't see how that's something to celebrate..." Ranulf muttered.

"Well, after seeing blank looks from half of the people at this table, it was reassuring to know that we do have potential strategists among the laguz."

Before Lethe or Skimir could tackle Soren, Lucia already grabbed his collar. "Soren, you have to be more cordial with our allies. It is very stupid to try to provoke them." She hissed.

Soren was rather intimidated by her snarl: "Of course, Milady. I was merely jesting..."

"Anyways, if what you are saying is true, then in order to combat those flying foes we should probably rouse Shinon and Rolf, right?" Ranulf spoke.

"They are both talented archers, but they won't be enough. It's too late to call Phoenicis for assistance, and my spells can only kill about one or two pegasi with any one shot. We will have to be very careful, for they can strike fast and flee quicker." Soren nodded.

"Can we afford to assume that Begnion is helping them? If we make assumptions too readily, we might end up ruining whatever chance we have at getting the Apostle to remain neutral or help us. You are all friends of the Apostle and her personal guard, no? We should try to gather more data before making such an assumption..." Lyre shifted up in her seat.

-----------

On Black Wings, the Gallian rebels descended on the capital.

On White Wings, Valtome's guard supported them, reinforcing their formations and ensuring that life would be hell for the Gallian Royal Army and their Crimean allies.

Tonerk and his friends had paid Naesala quite a fortune to allow nineteen legions of ravens to assist the Gallian rebellion. No matter how much Nealuchi objected, Naesala was eager to take the money and allow his brethren to risk their ties with the Gallian loyalists.

Valtome was quite eager to know the outcome of this battle. If all went well, the Gallian capital would be in their ally's hands, and the fall of Crimea would be quite certain if Major Kieran and the Crimean calvary stationed in Gallia's capital failed to help their comrades hold off the rebels.

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Soren pointed frantically at the map. "Alright, if you know your positions, we can..."

A messenger ran into the room. "Lord Skimir, enemy forces have began their attack! Our troops are having trouble fending them off!"

"Perfect..." Skimir smiled. "Let's go to war!"

--------

Lucia emerged from the fort to be greeted by a large, black bird. "Ravens?!" She gasped, leaping to the side as the laguz's talons slashed the door apart.

By then, the others had already spotted the rebel laguz running about in the streets yet again. Soren was right. They came directly from the east, and there were pegasi, but he never thought there'd be ravens among the enemy troops.

Lucia twirled a killing edge in her hand. "If these flying fools wish to face me in combat, I will make them regret having ever accepted this line of work." She thought bitterly. Sure enough, two ravens descended from the sky and headed for her throat.

Lucia leapt into the air just when one of the ravens was about to strike, and, with a swing of her blade, hacked away at the raven's neck. As the large bird crumpled before her blade and hit the ground, its partner attempted to flee, when Lucia heard a voice cry out: "Elwind!"

The enemy raven began to flutter about, like a person who had just been run over by a horse, and promptly collapsed on the ground. Lucia blinked slightly. That was rather abrupt.

Lucia turned to find Bastian smiling at her. "Milady, it is my duty to assist you at all times..."

"Thanks, Bastian, but I think your help will be needed elsewhere." Lucia smiled back and nodded. As Bastian ran off, Lucia turned to find Soren trapped in the middle of several enemy generals. Her eyes widened at the realization that some Begnion troops were actually among these rebels as well as ravens. The swordsmaster grabbed onto her armorslayer, a blade developed for slashing through thick armor, and ran to Soren's aid. To her surprise, however, he had no need for her assistance. With a single Thoron spell, all eight generals who were trying to rip him apart found themselves electrocuted by a ring of lightning. Lucia cringed and covered her eyes to avoid the glare, but was relieved to find that Soren was safe and untouched.

As if on cue, a halberdier charged at Lucia from her right, and, twirling a silver lance, challenged her to a duel. Lucia smirked, for the armorslayer could easily slice this foe in half. As her opponent ran forward, she spun around and avoided his initial thrust while letting her sword naturally swing forward and slash across the soldier's chest. Her opponent immediately grabbed his chest and collapsed on the ground, and Lucia left her fallen foe to assist the rest of her comrades.

"Lucia!" She heard someone yell, and turned to find three ravens caught in what seemed to be a circular funnel. Soren was nearby, his hands clutching onto a thick tome and mumbling some words. The three ravens spiraled down to their doom, and the Lady ran to the strategist's side.

"Watch your back, Lucia... Those three were about to strike you from behind." Soren nodded, his eyes showing concern.

Lucia smiled, rather stunned by him. With a single thoron spell, he took out eight generals who had clustered themselves around him, and with a single tornado, he brought down three ravens. Lucia remembered that day at Gritnea Tower, where, if it weren't for Tibarn, they would all have died from the enemy feral ones. Soren used Tornado back then, too, but he could only kill one feral raven or hawk at a time. But now his magical powers had extended to attacking several enemy units at once.

From a distance, Ilyana had a rather annoyed look on her face. Her Elwind seemed to be mediocre against the pegasi and ravens. Furthermore, Lucia was putting her nose in someone else's business. Soren was hers! Lucia had no right to butt in. The mage almost snapped her tome with her death grip. If Lucia was going to make her move, then Ilyana would be forced to make her own.

Soren coldly examined the battlefield. The city was currently under siege, and the small band of snipers and archers who came with Geoffrey had to fight alongside Shinon and Rolf as they tried to take out the enemy air support. The Gallian Royal Army tackled its rebel counterparts in several streets as the enemy continued to break through the city gates and close in on their helpless counterparts. The Gallian capital of Zarzi was being smothered by the vast army of Gallians, Begnion warriors, and Kilvas ravens. (1.)

Lucia looked at him. She remembered that Soren scoffed when Bastian had scolded him for being a little too confident. Soren claimed that out of the two hundred engagements the Greil Mercenaries went through when Soren was their strategist, they lost only three of them. Of the forty five heroes who led the warriors of Crimea and Begnion during the Mad King's War, none of them perished thanks to Soren. Heck, the victorious outcome of the war could basically be attributed to Soren, as he was the chief strategist of Ike's army.

Yet, today, Soren had seen through the enemy's tactics, but it seemed that his troops were too unprepared to be able to fend off the vast army of the rebellion. Soren sighed, in his eyes, he had failed his men, he had failed Ike and Caineghis, and if they were to be defeated today, it would all be his fault.

Lucia raised her sword. She saw the gloomy depression welling in his eyes and snapped. "Are you going to sit here and grieve, or are you going to actually fight with us and take down these rebels? There's no point lamenting on events that you have no control over, so let's hurry and get moving!"

Soren turned to her. The Lady Lucia, sister to General Geoffrey of Crimea, had gone through many more formal and intense battles than Soren himself, even though they were the same age. (2.) Yet she was able to stay a lot more focused than him, and that was rather intimidating. Soren was used to being the collected member of the Greil Mercenaries. To have someone beat him at his own game, well, that was remarkable.

She whirled her killing edge and ran ahead of him, towards the pack of pegasi and ravens who were pelting their Gallian allies. Soren quickly followed her. As ravens and pegasus knights swooped down, he'd hold them off with Tornado. Their allies on the ground had to deal with the claws of their rebel counterparts and the talons from the air, but with Soren's help, the situation was slowly turning to their favor.

Finally, only ten of the original sixty ravens who were attacking the Gallian capital were still alive. Bastian, knowing full well that the ravens were a greater threat than the pegasi, pulled out his most powerful tome: Rexcaliber. This tome was the rarest of all of the purchasable wind tomes. There were only about twenty left in existence, and only a handful of sages could effectively master the spell. He raised his hand and muttered the incantation marked in the tome, and a flurry of ice smashed into the ravens. Each individual raven swung back and forth, as though they were caught in the worst aerial disruption ever. Finally, all ten ravens plummeted to the ground, leaving their pegasus allies as bait for Shinon and the rest of the Crimean snipers.

With the death of the ravens, the pegasi found themselves caught in volleys of arrows. Shinon and Rolf made certain that none of them would be able to escape. With arrows stabbing through their mounts and through their chests, the brave women of Valtome's pegasus guard fell from the skies. Lucia shook her head and sighed... One of those women could have been Tanith. For all they knew, Begnion could be trying to start a war with Gallia, and Lucia was well aware that neither Tanith nor Sigrun would ever put their personal friendship over their national duty. Lucia, fully devoted to Queen Elincia, would probably do the same.

The swordsmaster sighed and wiped her blade. Nearby, Gatrie and Ilyana were taking out the terrified rebel troops. Ilyana knew Elfire, and had no intention of letting the enemy have an easy fight. The flames seared the flesh of those beast laguz, making them howl in pain. Though Zihark and Ilyana were close friends, and Zihark personally trusted Ilyana with his life, he had to run towards her and shove her to make her stop using that spell.

The Gallian rebels were defeated once again, and as they fled for dear life Bastian used his Bolting tome to make them run faster. Zihark, seeing those poor laguz run for their lives, grabbed a killing edge and was about to attack the Duke of Felirae until Muarim grabbed him and dragged him back. Soren shook his head. Zihark truly did seem more laguz than beorc. Heck, he was more of a laguz than Lyre, for crying out loud!

Lucia watched as the enemy fled the city and ran deep into the forest. A certain raven haired sage walked up beside her and sighed as he watched them run. Lucia's eyes scanned the various faces of their allies. Kieran, Gatrie, and Shinon all brought out bottles of beer and were chugging them on the steps of Gallia's palace, but Caineghis was too exasperated to bother them. Lucia noticed that everyone else was celebrating, except for her, Zihark, Lethe, Caineghis, Giffca, and Soren. Lucia froze for a moment. Now that she thought of it, Soren never showed any sense of joy over any victory, not even the time when Ashnard was finally slain. She turned to the mage. "I always remembered that while our soldiers would cheer and celebrate their victories, you never seemed to be joyful... You're a rather serious person, no doubt, but it's strange that you don't seem to show pride in your accomplishments." Lucia spoke with a raised eyebrow.

Soren shook his head and looked her in the eye. "What's there to celebrate about killing people? Yes, I'm proud that I've never been defeated, but that's a superficial sense of joy. Half of the people we kill are people just like us. We have no right to take their lives with so little concern. A few years back, I despised the laguz because they once despised me, but even then, killing them wouldn't be so pleasurable. Why? Because death is nothing to feel joyful about. In battle, had you been the one who made a wrong move, you might be a still corpse and your opponent would be the one laughing."

Lucia stared at him for a moment. She was used to an environment where the warriors of Crimea would have toasts to their victory and would show intense joy at crushing "those Daein scum." But clearly, Soren was different. Lucia had grown up with violent men. Her brother was polite, and kind, but he too was a terror in open combat. Though he hardly showed it, Geoffrey had a great sense of thrill from the heat of battle.

Lucia was confused, Bastian was a sage as well, and a talented one, but why did she care about Soren so much? Maybe it was because Soren had spent his time healing her and the others instead of running about stabbing enemy Generals at close range like Bastian. Maybe it was because Soren was so calm, so collected in battle, unlike Geoffrey or, in some cases, Bastian himself. Soren was quite intelligent and maybe even wise, as he'd often give his comrades advice that would keep them from getting into horrible situations.

The more she thought of him, the greater of a man Soren seemed to be. It was rather perplexing. Lucia was a tactician, and a warrior in many aspects. She had no time to allow herself to, as Tanith would call it, "fall into a romantic distraction..." Yet she seemed to be doing exactly that. (3.)

Soren turned to Lucia, finding her caught in a dreamy look. The sage thought for a moment. Lucia was acting rather strangely, though he could hardly complain. Among all the women in their army, Lucia was the only one who wasn't almost totally ignoring him and wasn't trying to be annoying. Ilyana was just being another nuisance. The kind of fawning individual who just wouldn't go away, but Lucia was different. (4.) She wasn't fawning over him, yet he could easily tell that she cared deeply about him. Lucia was a rather generous and charismatic individual. The warriors of Crimea eagerly flocked to her when Ike, Soren, and the rest of their army were crossing The Great Bridge. Lucia cared for Ilyana, trained Mia in swordsmanship, helped plan strategies with himself and Titania, and generally tried to be of use to every member of their army during the Mad King's War. She'd always been there, for everyone, while he would merely watch his comrades from a distance and strategize. That's why everyone thought highly of her, but only few people truly thanked Soren for what he had done. The more he thought of her, the more he began to admire her... But, as the strategist of the Greil Mercenaries and the current tactician in charge of the Gallian army, he could not afford a distraction as extensive as this.

Lucia and Soren shook their heads and looked at each other. Before either could speak, Mist ran up to Lucia. "My brother needs both of you to come immediately. Something's happened at the west gate."

Soren and Lucia arrived to find Rhys crouched over a badly wounded person. Soren stepped forward and his eyes widened at the sight.

Reyson lay sprawled on the ground, his body torn to shreds. As Mist and Soren ran forward to heal the fallen heron, Lucia took a note from the watching Kieran's trembling hand. "Leanne is in our custody, humans. Leave now or she will be killed."

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1. I'm using the old map provided at Serenes Forest. (The Old Tellius Map located in the Radiant Dawn section.)

2. Soren is considered to be older than Ike, as he ages much slower than any of the beorc. At least, that's the case in my version of these events... Lucia looked about eighteen in POR. I counted her as nineteen, giving her an extra year of experience. By now, she'd be twenty one. Dividing Soren's real age by about 1.5, Soren would look fourteen... A little scary, but it makes sense due to the fact that Soren looked barely thirteen during the Mad King's War, and the fact that he has the blood of the longest living laguz species. Unfortunately, they would appear to be an odd couple, but considering the fact that even someone like Ilyana would be nineteen or twenty now, the only person who could be paired with Soren and allow him to be straight and appear "normal" would be Mist, as she's only fourteen now.

Secondly, to explain why Soren hasn't fought in any actual "battles." What the Greil Mercenaries go through are skirmishes. Actual battles are fought between large armies, not among small groups of people. Geoffrey, being a general, leads hundreds of men in battle. Lucia, being his sister and one of Elincia's most trusted advisors, is often by her brother's side, so she's experienced many of these battles firsthand. The Greil Mercenaries aren't even twenty people, so whenever they have a job, it tends to involve less than a hundred people (enemies and allies alike.) If it's less than a hundred people, it technically is more of a skirmish than a battle.

3. I find Tanith and Lucia to be quite similar. Both are strong, confident women would would do anything for the people they love, cherish, and care about. Both are loyal to the bitter end, and are rather thoughtful. Both can be very serious and collected, though Lucia is kinder and sometimes more gentle than Tanith. The main difference between Tanith and Lucia is that Tanith is harsh and stubborn while Lucia is reasonable and determined. Lucia is much more capable of bending than Tanith. Otherwise, they are very similar people and I would not find it surprising if they have a mutual respect for each other.

4. There are those of you who support Soren and Ilyana. Apologies, but I do not support that pairing nearly as much as I support Soren/Lethe, Soren/Mist, or (my own creation, it seems) Soren/Lucia. I simply find them to be incompatible. Soren is much too stern. Ilyana would probably be either turned off or badly hurt by the harsh mage. Lethe could easily take Soren's rudeness and would probably return it twofold, making Soren respect her tenacity, and Mist, being Ike's sister and generally liked by everyone, could also have a chance at winning Soren's heart. But Ilyana has showed little charisma. She basically makes those who don't support with her fear her intense hunger, and those who do care for her (Lucia, Zihark, etc.) have to bend over backwards to get her food. I just don't see the two of them as a good pairing... My apologies.

As for Lucia and Soren, well, Lucia seems to be the middle between Lethe and Mist. Lucia is much more serious and is much more capable of harshness than Mist, yet she's much more amicable than Lethe.


	11. Chaos in the Skies

Chapter 11: Chaos in the Skies

"First, Naesala betrays us, and now, Leanne has been captured and Reyson has been mutilated. These animals are not laguz... They are far too vicious for that!" Zihark growled, slamming his fist into the table and nearly breaking it in his rage.

Murmurs of agreement slowly rose among his comrades. Even Skimir shuddered at the thought that Tonerk's men could harm a defenseless heron like Reyson. Then again, these were people who kidnapped two young beorc girls: Ilyana and Mist, so they were capable of doing anything...

Titania turned to Ike. The Greil Mercenaries had always depended on her wise instincts for victory, but today there was little advice she could give. They had no idea where Leanne was hidden, and thus they'd be unable to save her.

But then an idea popped into her head. At the same time, Lucia seemed to leap a little. Both women turned to each other, and with the gaze of a mutual understanding, they smiled. The older, red-haired woman turned to Major Kieran. "Major, as a former fellow Knight of Crimea, and as a comrade, I ask that you do me a favor."

Kieran immediately saluted. 'It is the duty of a man to assist a woman in need. What is it, General Titania?"

Titania beamed. _General..._ That word sounded quite nice when referring to her, to be honest. "Major, you are ordered to deliver a message to Her Majesty Elincia. Captain Marcia of the Crimean Pegasus Knights shall be recruited here immediately. If..." Titania turned to Lucia, and the younger girl nodded. "If Commander Astrid and Sargent Makalov could be recalled as well, it would be perfect."

"Very well then, General. I will relay your orders immediately. I am certain that General Geoffrey will be glad to oblige." With that Kieran ran out the door.

Bastian turned to Titania and Lucia. "Thy plan may very well work... If Marcia comes, then she can fly to Phoenicis, and our fine friends Ulki and Janaff might be able to help us, as well as the rest of the noble hawks. The raven's betrayal and the cruelty committed on these herons may very well convince them to join our cause!"

---------------

Four days later, Marcia, having been sent to Zarzi by Elincia after Crimea's Queen accepted her ally's request, hopped on her pegasus and flew away from Gallia's capital, towards the nation of Phoenicis. General Titania had advised her to stay as far west as possible, for Kilvas ravens might try to send interceptors to stop her from reaching Tibarn and informing him of what was going on.

The Gallian rebels could only growl and threaten. They didn't dare kill or harm Leanne. Had they done so, the entire Hawk nation would definitely help Gallia. As long as they kept Leanne safe, there was a slight chance that Tibarn, not wanting to put Phoenicis into a horrible position, would claim that, since Crimea was already assisting the Gallian royals, this situation was not Phoenicis's concern.

However, the rebels didn't take into account the Begnion reinforcements Valtome handed them. Because of these reinforcements, Crimea and the Gallian Royal Army's combined efforts might fail. Phoenicis was the trusted ally of both nations, and thus would be expected to help Crimea and Gallia in this war. Titania, Soren, Lucia, and Bastian had taken this argument into account if Tibarn were to cop out (but he probably wouldn't), and would use it to convince the hawks to assist them.

Naesala did not want Tibarn to rip his wings off, so once the Gallian rebel spies informed him of the situation, Kilvas immediately sent three battalions of raven warriors to engage and kill Marcia before she reached the Phoenician border. The situation was serious, and if Marcia failed in her mission, it would be ridiculously difficult to rescue Leanne without Janaff or Ulki.

Alone, Marcia found herself surrounded by several ravens. Urging her pegasus to dive back and forth, she tried to find an opening in the raven lines. After all, if she could swoop forward and dive in the middle of her enemy formation, she might be able to break them out of formation and, thus, make them frantically chase after her. If they were careless enough, with one lance throw she could probably skewer several ravens at once.

Gripping tightly onto her javelin, Marcia dived right into the middle of the ravens, catching them off guard. With a swing of her lance, she ripped one raven apart. Apparently this one was more scrawny than his fellows, and as he fell his comrades began to panic and dive after the pegasus knight. Marcia smiled, her plan fit perfectly, and with one throw, three ravens plunged into the cold waters below them.

Having taken out four of her pursuers, Marcia had eight still chasing after her. As she glided upwards, she found that four more were heading for her position from her left. She swung to the right, believing that a more westerly path would keep her further away from the Kilvas nation, and there would be a lesser chance that enemies would have flown that far to attack her from that position.

But she was wrong. Three ravens descended from the clouds and proceeded to strike her with their talons. Marcia gasped. Would she fail here?

The huge claws of the raven laguz tore through her shoulder. Marcia felt that burning surge of pain... A pain she hadn't felt in a long time. The last time she felt pain like this was when enemy Daein soldiers ambushed her in the meadows near Castle Delbray. Twas a squad of five snipers who fired arrows that pierced her and her pegasus mount, Louie. It was a miscalculation on Titania's part. She saw that Ulki was in the path of several enemy snipers and asked Marcia to cover their hawk ally. Actually, Soren, confident that Ulki would be able to hear the arrows coming and dodge them, put Ulki there to lure the snipers away from Tanith, whom Soren planned to reach the castle and reinforce Geoffrey first with her pegasus allies. But Titania, being second in command of Ike's army, acted on her own accord and thus put Marcia's life in danger.

The girl cringed. This might be the end for her... Marcia thought of her idiot brother, Makalov, and how he'll have to try to stay alive without her... She thought of Gatrie, that handsome warrior who, because she had to follow Titania's orders, she did not have a chance to greet. She thought of how she still owed General Ike her life, and how her comrades would be forced to fight on without her... Then Marcia shook her head. She couldn't die here. It would be selfish and irresponsible of her to die here. Even Calill, who wasn't even an officer (in the official sense of the word), took major injuries and knew that she ought to retreat instead of fight on and die during an intense battle in the last war. To her comrades, Marcia's survival was much more critical than her tenacity in battle in the face of certain death.

Having thrown her javelin and pierced three ravens with it, Marcia held her other lance, her silver lance, and flew high into the air. Her raven pursuers quickly rushed after her, but Marcia urged Louie to fly as fast as he could. The ravens were a swift breed of laguz, but as they chased Marcia, the girl saw splashes of brown in the sky ahead. Those splashes began to move and grow bigger, and Marcia quickly recognized what they were: Hawk laguz!

Five hawks swooped past Marcia and held off her raven pursuers. The ravens, ordered to kill Marcia at all costs, attacked the hawks, and thus gave Marcia and Louie enough time to flee to Phoenicis. With more hawks noticing their fighting brethren, Marcia quickly found squads of friends rushing to assist her in her evacuation. Four hawks were even kind enough to escort her, and successfully counterattacked one raven who was able to get past the hawk blockade.

With two of her four hawk escorts holding off her last pursuer, Marcia and two hawks finally arrived in Phoenicis under their protection. She was quickly led to the hawk capital, where Tibarn, Janaff, and Ulki were glad to meet her.

"I saw you fleeing from those ravens, so I ordered those hawks on patrol duty to reach you first. The others arrived soon afterwards. You gave me quite a scare, there!" Janaff smiled as a few hawk physicians tried to heal her wounds.

"Thanks, Janaff!" Marcia smiled back, wincing a little when the herbal medication made her wounds sting. The girl, knowing how Tibarn hated nonsense, turned to the King of Phoenicis and began to speak. "Your majesty, there is something important I have to tell you." Marcia turned to Tibarn with some uncertainty in her voice.

Tibarn nodded. "Go on, Captain Marcia."

"Gallia is currently undergoing a civil war, and Crimea has joined the Royal Army in its attempt to destroy the rebels. These rebels have a similar mentality to those Daeins back in the Mad King's War. They're trying to banish all beorc from Gallia and kill any stragglers... They're also killing laguz who are unwilling to join them. It seems that a large contingent of Begnion troops has also joined their forces."

"Pray wait a moment... You just said..." Ulki spoke.

"Yeah, we don't understand it either. Why would Begnion provide troops to a beorc-hating faction? It doesn't make any sense, but Kilvas has also joined the rebels, and because of that we're currently outnumbered and outgunned. We need the help of Phoenicis to turn the tide, for we've been unable to attack them this whole time. All Soren's been able to do is repel attacks, not make one himself."

"Well... We cannot sit by and let Gallia fall to such a force. They say that the most catastrophic of tragedies are caused by good people standing by and doing nothing. Phoenicis will not stand by. Janaff, Ulki, you will accompany Captain Marcia back to Gallia with fifteen legions of our hawk brethren. On behalf of our friends: the beast laguz of Gallia and the beorc of Crimea, we shall fight and destroy these rebels." Tibarn nodded. After the Phoenician physicians succeeded in healing Marcia, the pegasus knight and the two hawk heroes left with their Phoenician troop escorts. Now Phoenicis had joined the tide, and hopes for an end to the civil war finally began to appear in the horizon.

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As always, thank you for reading!


	12. Answers

Chapter 12: Answers

Marcia had already left the capital, Gatrie noted. He sighed... If only he had more time to flirt with her.

But there was a more pressing issue at hand...

Soren sat by Reyson's bedside as Rhys and Mist, having mastered the healing arts much more fluently, were caring for the heron. Reyson had regained consciousness, but he was still in great pain, and badly wounded. Soren stared deep into the heron's green orbs. "Tell me, Prince, why would you be so foolish as to bring yourself in harm's way?"

"Soren!" A multitude of voices yelled. It was very rude of him to demand such an answer from Reyson, but Soren didn't care. After all, harsh words were necessary in the face of blatant idiocy.

Reyson stared back at Soren with equal firmness. "I was a resident of Gallia, since Tibarn left me in the care of the beast tribe. These southern forests remind me of my beloved Serenes... But as I was traversing the forest with my sister, the rebellion began, and before I could flee here, my path of retreat was cut off. There was a laguz who stood by me. His name was Kyza, I believe, but it seems that he was forced to abandon me in favor of survival... After all, it was certain that these rebels dare not kill me. However, I didn't anticipate that they'd be so bold as to wound me so..."

Soren scoffed. "You didn't anticipate... Do you know how much of a pain it is, to care for your defenseless hide? Sometimes I wonder why you even joined an army if you cannot fight. Yes, you can rejuvenate our forces, and that makes you critical for victory, but in order to do that you must be in or adjacent to the frontlines, and because of that it puts you right in front of the enemy lines. They can so easily slay you, Reyson, yet you do not see it, do you? You believe that it is brave and noble of you to stand by your warrior comrades, and maybe it is, but even so it is very, very stupid of you to get yourself in harm's way when your comrades in question are not hardened and mighty war veterans like us. I suppose you can't blame Kyza for realizing that protecting you would lead to all of you dying. At least by Kyza's retreat he alone survives to fight another day."

Ike shook his head. Soren needed to learn how to be more cordial. Such harsh words would bound to get someone into a murderous rage... Heck, he'd already infuriated Lethe to that level. He was lucky that Lethe was a friend, for if he were to taunt a foe, Soren would be dead.

Reyson began to ruffle his feathers. "We all have our duty as members of this army to fight wickedness no matter where it is. I am Reyson, Prince of Serenes, who stood by the warriors of the Mad King's War. If I stood by in an unconcerned manner or fled while the nation of Gallia is falling apart, would I have the right to continue claiming that I am a member of this army? No, I would not. I would be a mere coward, I could not call myself Reyson, and I would have no right to point out my name among that list of heroes. Soren, several times in the face of certain death you rushed forward to heal our wounded comrades with your mend staff. True, unlike me you are capable of counterattacking with your powerful magic spells, but in hand to hand combat you are badly outclassed, for the heavy swords and axes the enemy wields could easily chop you in half. Yet you rushed forward and risked your life. You acted like a fool as well.

"It is true that I cannot fight, and sometimes I feel horrible when I see an enemy unit nearby, yet I am unable to take it down. But since I can help my allies with my songs, I force myself to stand beside them, even if it might seem like suicide. As a member of this army, it is my duty to assist my comrades no matter what." Reyson's eyes narrowed as he shifted his feathers.

"Suit yourself." Soren shook his head and left the tent. Ike turned to Reyson. "I apologize... You know how he..."

Reyson smirked. "As her majesty Elincia once said: 'You've no need to scold Soren. His words are just that. They do me no harm.' That's what you told me, right, Ike? He's an angry one, your tactician, but though it is difficult for him to express his intentions, in the end he means the best... Even if I do wish I had the strength to strangle him every once in a while..."

"You seem rather calm, your majesty." Muarim noted, scratching his chin. "A few years ago you were rather adamant and even slightly vindictive... Back then, anyone who would ruffle your feathers would infuriate you." "There's no point in getting angry when it won't do any good, right?" Reyson sighed. "Now please let me be... I'm tired and I've answered all your questions."

Ike, Muarim, and all those who worried about Reyson's safety knew that he needed rest. They left Rhys and Mist to care for the heron.

---------------

"Congratulations, Marcia! You were able to arrive in time. Janaff, it's good to see you!"

"Ah, Lucia! So it looks like you didn't need a chaperon after all!" Janaff slowly descended from the sky and landed on the ground. "Yeah, was that your plan to send Marcia to us alone? She seemed to have some trouble fighting all those ravens." Janaff turned to the pegasus knight with worried eyes.

Marcia scowled. "It's not like I wanted to pick a fight with them! They were just... Just so powerful, that's all. If I had a brave lance like Geoffrey I could spear every single one of those lying crows! Those crows aren't just insults to the laguz, they're insults to all living things! Seriously, they tried to mob me!" Her eyes flared. Lucia, Janaff, and even Ulki were a little intimidated at this sudden show of rage on her part.

"Everything will try to mob you. That is the fundamental rule of total warfare. Janaff, Ulki, it is good to see both of you, even under these circumstances. We have little time to chat and relax. There's plenty of time for that after we destroy the rebels. Now, how many hawks did you bring with you, Knights of Phoenicis?" Soren asked.

Janaff, Ulki, Lucia, and Marcia shuddered a little, startled by his sudden appearance. "I didn't even hear you coming..." Ulki managed, his calm composure completely shattered.

Soren smirked. "I'm well aware of that."

Janaff managed to control himself. "We brought fifteen legions, a hundred and fifty thousand, if you will."

"The enemy has nineteen legions of ravens. Well, maybe less thanks to their casualties in their last attack, but even so we're still outnumbered, though by a much smaller margin. As long as we tread lightly, we should be able to win regardless of troop size. Anyways, we've wasted enough time as it is. Janaff, I ask that you take fifty Phoenicis knights and try to spy on the enemy fortification to the south. What kind of weapons are they using? What sort of troops are guarding the facility? That sort of thing. Ulki, please guide twenty five of your fellow hawks and listen for whatever rivers, or bodies of water, or hidden ambushes or traps they might have for us. I have to know the terrain before I can make a decision as to how to proceed. With that said, it is good to see you again, but we have no time for small talk. I ask that you get moving as soon as possible." With that, Soren turned his heel and walked away.

Marcia blinked and turned to the others. "Well... Perhaps we should follow those instructions. Master Soren knows what he's doing..." Ulki sighed and left. Lucia turned to Janaff. "I... Apologize for his behavior." She sighed, shaking her head. "What's there for you to apologize? You're not his keeper." Janaff turned to her. "You have no fault in this." He clarified. "But Ulki's right, Soren will probably get annoyed so I'd better get going."

Marcia turned to Lucia. "Well, I guess we'll have to chat later then." She sighed as she walked off. Lucia turned to where Soren was headed, and sprinted in that direction.

Soren continued walking forward. A gloomy look consumed his red orbs as he scanned the land ahead of him. "I can't afford to waste time... The last time we had a happy chat around a campfire, Rhys was nearly killed in an enemy ambush... One time, after a happy chat with Titania, I wasn't paying attention and Tormod nearly got skewered by two enemy soldiers. And... And at Delbray Brom was almost electrocuted when I was too busy reminiscing on my victory over Petrine. Joy cannot exist on the battlefield, it only brings suffering because, as humans, we get distracted thinking of those memories. It clouds our judgment, and makes us unable to make correct tactical decisions." Soren mumbled bitterly.

At that moment, he heard an angry voice behind him. "That was rather rude of you."

"Lu-Lucia?!"

"I'm sure you're glad in the fact that you broke their merry mood."

"Lucia, I..."

"You what? What excuse do you have for being so rude? I should have known... You were cruel to Reyson earlier today, and I guess you had to come in there and break our conversation, didn't you?"

"Merriment is not what warriors can afford to have, Lucia. You should know that better than I."

"What do you mean?" Lucia glared back at him. Her eyes both showing rage and curiosity.

"When one is happy, one gets distracted by that happiness. Because of this, one can make great errors in battle. There was a time back when Sir Greil was still alive... We were having a small campfire and a group of bandits suddenly ambushed us. Titania, Gatrie, and Shinon were back at the fort, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. Rhys nearly got killed! And, during the Mad King's War, because I was still reminiscing over my victory over Petrine, Brom got hit by a Thoron tome and nearly fell had Mordecai not come to his assistance and crushed the mage with his paw. Too many errors can easily be made in battle... Which is why we must assume solemn and vigilant moods. Only then can we stay alive."

"Then what of love and glory? Are they not "merry" emotions? Do they not give one happiness when they are fulfilled?"

"... Love is meant for warriors only after the battle, when victory has come and the war is over. During battle, one may lose one's focus if one cares for one's lover on the battlefield. War isn't a place for love, nor a place for happiness. With you slaying other people, and watching your comrades fall before you, pray tell me: where is the joy? There is none... Glory, too, comes after the battle is won."

Lucia stared at him. "Then what of the moment before battle? Gloom also serves as a distraction, correct...?"

"Well..." Soren stood there for a moment. He tried to think of a rebuttal but none came to him.

"When you converse with comrades and friends before battle, it does not necessarily mean that you intend to forget about the upcoming fight. On the contrary, beorc and laguz are social animals. We need companionship in order to thrive or we become miserable and gloomy. When you are sorrowful, you also get distracted and do not perform your best, correct? Merry conversations before battle help provide a more optimistic attitude before battle. Of course, being too optimistic is foolish, for you do not adequately measure your risks and thus you have the chance of getting killed, but some optimism before the battle allows you to be confident and thus not be indecisive, for that is also a horrible mistake one can make before battle, no?"

"So what is your point?"

Lucia's eyes narrowed. "Isn't it obvious by now, or are you truly content with being alone and shunned by everyone? You have friends, Soren, friends who care for you very much. This isn't like the days of your past, when people used to leave you abandoned..."

"How are you aware of such things?" Soren's eyes widened, his hands tightening into fists. Lucia drew back a little. "Ike and Elincia are quite close. She asked about you and he told her everything... She merely told me afterwards..."

"And I thought I could trust Ike! I don't want my personal biography to be given to the world!" Soren snarled.

"How long do you intend to live, hidden underneath that cloak of cruelty? How long do you intend to traverse the world with only Ike as your companion? Ike is your dear friend, but no one can thrive with only one friend beside them. Times have changed, Soren. Among our forces, you are the most respected of our strategists. Everyone believes in you. Don't be so eager to shove us away."

"Lu... Lucia... You do not understand what I've been through... You've lived a life as a noblewoman. You have no idea what it's like to be scorned by all."

"True, I may not, but why do you think that Ike understands...?"

"Because... Because he..." Soren stammered, but the answer could not be found no matter how desperately he searched for it.

"Because you have faith that he does. You trust him with your life, maybe more than that, but what you should realize is that he's not the only person who cares deeply about you. He's not the only person who winces each time you get hit by an enemy or clutch your arm in pain. He's not the only person who makes sure that you show up during every meal and makes certain that you are well at all times. You have many such friends, Soren... And it's important for you to recognize and appreciate them as such."

Soren stared at her and thought for a moment. She was right. Back when the Greil Mercenaries were not legends, Titania, Rhys, Oscar, Boyd, even Gatrie would be nearby and make sure that Soren would show up at every meal and stick around during group gatherings. They did care about him, yet all he did was give them cold shoulders...

Then he looked at her. Here she was, trying to reassure him that there were others who cared about him deeply. Soren blinked, not even Titania would have the patience to tell him this... He had tested the older woman's patience and made her annoyed at him, but Lucia was different. Lucia truly did care about him, this sullen mage who'd annoy the vast majority of people who tried to talk to him. Janaff, Ranulf, Zihark, these people were normally rather amicable, but Soren had tested all of their patience and made all of them fear his presence. Muarim, the calm and peaceful tiger, tried to befriend Soren, and failed miserably, even though he wasn't annoyed at the mage... Yet...

"Lucia, I..."

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow. The girl stared intently into Soren's red eyes, and she could tell that the mage was moved by her sincerity. He gave her another rare smile, and spoke. "Thank you, for everything..."

Lucia smiled back. "I'm not the only person you should thank."

"You're right... I should talk to the others. Lucia..." Soren grabbed her hand, and she was startled a bit, but quickly calmed down. "Soren?"

"Take care... Don't... Don't die on us... Elincia and Geoffrey aren't the only people who care deeply about you..." He let go of her hand and stood in front of her, awkwardly.

Lucia beamed at him. "I know, take care, Soren."

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At dinner, the Gallians, Crimeans, and Phoenicians noted that their master strategist, Soren, was acting rather strangely. He was rather chipper, participating in conversations with some witty dialog. To be honest, Ranulf, Janaff, and Titania were pleased with the new Soren, even if it was rather sudden. But they weren't going to treat the issue as though it was some big deal.

Ike observed his best friend closely. Something seemed strange, it was as though gloomy old Soren had been replaced by someone with a much better attitude. He noticed that Soren was spending a lot of time with Geoffrey's sister, the Lady Lucia, and apparently she was a good influence on him. Ike decided to talk to Lucia personally.

Lucia was in her room, polishing her sword. She smiled at the thought that Soren seemed to be in a much better mood, when Bastian suddenly entered.

"Bastian!"

"Milady, thy beauty far outshines the sun!"

"Um, right... How are you doing?"

"Oh, milady, I'm flattered! I am doing very well... Now, Ike wishes to see thee... It may be best to follow the commander's wishes..."

"Very well, then, Bastian. Would you mind? I have to change."

"Oh, of course, milady. I have not married thee yet."

"And you never will." Lucia muttered under her breath as Bastian left her room. She quickly shut and bolted the door behind him.

--------------

"General Ike, you wanted to see me?"

"Oh, yeah, Lucia..."

"So, what may I do for you?"

"Well, I've noticed that Soren's been acting strangely recently..."

"Oh? How so?"

"You haven't noticed? I guess you never knew him as long as I have. He normally has a..."

"Gloomy, slightly arrogant, and bitter aura around him, yes? Well, aren't you glad that he's changed so dramatically?"

"I'm not complaining, not at all, but I'm just curious... What did you do to him?"

"Some people need more attention and reassurance from others... Soren happens to be one of those people. He's lived a life of pain and solitude, which is why he respects and cherishes you so deeply, Ike. You're his best friend, and for a long time you were his only friend. But, when I look at him, I see a man with such great potential to inspire and befriend others, so naturally I had to bring that potential out of him. He's... He's a great man, that Soren..." Lucia began to shift awkwardly, and her face began to turn slightly pink, and Ike laughed.

"You love him, don't you?"

"Yes, I... What?!"

"I've seen that look in Titania's eyes when she thinks of my father. I've seen that look in Elincia's when she looks at me and talks to me. Much of the world is missing that look, that feeling, which is why it's reassuring to know that you care for Soren so deeply. You're right, he's had such a tough life, and he needs you more than me."

"I..."

"Don't be embarrassed, Lucia."

"Ike..."

"Seriously, I'm happy for both of you. Take care of my best friend for me, Lucia."

"Ike, I... I will. But I must have you promise something."

"What is it?"

"Soren said that he trusted you in not confiding any of his personal information, yet you apparently told Elincia about his painful past... And she told me. What I'm getting at is, well, don't tell anyone else about us, please..."

Ike smiled. "If I hadn't told Elincia, you wouldn't have been so successful at helping him, right?"

"True..."

"I won't pass this around in vain, but I think that some people have to know, in particular, Bastian... I'm not sure how Janaff would react, though. That you'll have to find out on your own. Take care, Lucia. I have some work to do..."

"Best of luck, commander."

-----------------

Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned.


	13. Predators and Prey

Chapter 13: Predators and Prey

His robes were stained red as he pulled his body forward, panting and wincing in the darkness of the night. His red eyes scanned his surroundings as sweat poured down his face. He heard them... He saw their silhouettes moving in the shadows. The enemy got him, but now they'd finish the job.

His black robes would do little to hide him from their eyes. Thankfully, the night kept him safe from the ravens who were circling overhead hours ago, but the beasts could still spot him if they were focused enough... Soren was doomed, and he knew it.

What did he do wrong? How could it have ended like this? Soren's mind thought frantically. Even though he might die at any moment, it was good to learn from one's mistakes. After all, if Ashera was merciful enough to grant him life the next morning, he would have to have learned from this horrible error in order to stay alive. But that took luck, and luck was not on his side today.

--------------

The arrival of the Phoenicis hawks gave the Gallian army hope. Crimea wasn't the only nation backing them in this seemingly impossible war. Now, to combat those dastardly crows, they had their own feathered friends.

More precious reinforcements from the north arrived. Led by Astrid of the Crimean knights, the Greil Mercenaries and their laguz allies knew that with the paladins, mages, archers, soldiers, fighters, armored troops, and swordsmen in their ranks would be more than a match for their Begnion counterparts. Those mages, like Masters Soren and Bastian, would be very effective against their laguz foes as well, but now speed was of the essence. If they were slow, these beorc allies would be slaughtered.

Soren was confident that he'd win. So far, the Gallian rebel tactic had been: "Mob them and hunt each enemy unit down." Their mentality was similar to the Gallian Prince, Skimir, who would rally their Gallian troops with: "Kill the enemy, kill them all." Skimir would often repeat to their soldiers no matter how many times Ranulf or Lethe tried to convince him otherwise.

With the hawk reinforcements, the Gallian rebel advantage of numbers was dwindling. Now, since both armies were much more evenly matched, victory would be determined through strategy, not brute force, and Soren knew that his strategy won the last war, so it would probably win this one too.

--------------

"Senator Valtome, I regret to inform you that a large portion of the Crimean army, as well as the army of Phoenicis, has decided to assist the Gallian Royal forces."

"So, Tonerk, you mean to tell me that the aerial advantage we had with the Kilvas ravens has been compromised?"

"Unfortunately, yes..."

"So you ask for assistance?"

"Yes..."

"Give him that assistance."

"Lekain?"

"Senator Lekain! It's surprising to see you!"

"Indeed, Tonerk. Valtome, the Begnion Empire must have this victory, otherwise our conquest of Crimea will fail. Even with Daein's strength, the only way we can convince Goldoa to join us is if we destroy the Gallian royals in this very war. Lord Izuka simply isn't enough, as Goldoa hates him for the Feral project, which, no offense to you, Tonerk, I personally think was a shrewd idea. Cruel, perhaps, but shrewd. Now, Tonerk, we will give you as many troops as we can spare. After all, we could always tell Sephiran that by helping one faction of the civil war we ended it quicker... Sephiran's loyalty is to the Apostle, not to any of her allies, and Crimea is still subservient in their eyes. There won't be much trouble, you can quote me on that. So, Tonerk, you will be given reinforcements shortly. We will win this war, no matter the cost!"

---------------

The united army, under Ike and Soren's leadership, approached the rebel provinces. Shortly after entering that "sovereign" nation, Tonerk's men made their counterattack...

The forests of Gallia were thick and tall, making it tough for Ike's Crimean allies to see. If there was any consolation, the same went for the enemy's Begnion troops, and the first strike was made by Kilvas ravens against their Phoenician hawk counterparts, rather than the 'official' armies themselves.

With their allies chaotically striking each other in the air, the ground troops on both sides were very confused. "Where was the enemy?" Their minds were frantic in trying to answer this question. The forest was not an ideal place to battle, and many Gallians on both sides stumbled across each other and had no idea who was friend and who was foe.

Soren saw that his lines were chaotic, the ranks of friends and foes were mixed, making it difficult to tell which side either were on. With night settling in, the bird laguz on both sides fled back to their respective camps, and both the white armor of the Crimeans and the red armor of the Begnion warriors were blotted out into one cloak of darkness. Now it was impossible to tell which side was which.

But the enemy laguz began to roar "human," and those laguz on Soren's side would instantly attack them, for beorc friends would never call beorc by that insulting name. The Begnion warriors, understanding their ally's tactic, would yell: "sub-human," causing the Crimeans to rally against them. It was ironic how two factions, who despised each other's very existence, would ally together, but by using the knowledge of their mutual hatred, they could easily tell who was friend and who was foe.

Soren quickly gathered the fire mages near him, which he knew were Crimean, as no Begnion mage would recognize him, and called a squad of armored warriors to accompany him. As allied troops began to flee, realizing that they were being mobbed by their enemy counterparts, Soren and this group of mages and armored troops surged forward into the tide.

The flames of the Crimean mage's spells burned the forest, but at the same time fried their rebel laguz foes, and that was more than enough to force the enemy lines to buckle, but, realizing that this tactic allowed the majority of the Gallian royal forces and their allies to flee, the bloodthirsty enemy laguz braved the flames and rushed forward, and Soren watched as his fellow mages were ripped apart by their claws. An armored warrior by Soren's side suddenly fell, an arrow having pierced his helmet. Begnion snipers were in the trees that remained, raining arrows down on Soren's men right after their laguz allies killed the mages. Soren's gambit had failed to destroy the enemy, but his allies had successfully fled. Soren saw Titania and a few other paladins, who had trouble in the forest, flee far into the distance. The mage smiled, at least his friends would live through this.

The snipers and laguz charged at Soren, who quickly used his Tornado tome to knock those beasts in mid leap. The swirl of wind threw the snipers out of the trees and far away. But more were on the way, and Thoron would have little use in such wooded terrain, so Soren withdrew a smaller tome from deep in his robes.

The book was much thinner than Tornado, and was lighter as well. The title was engraved in gold on the cover: _Smack_. A sweatdrop trickled down Soren's spine. Soren had asked Daniel to make him a wind tome. It didn't necessarily have to be as strong as Rexcaliber, for Soren knew the might of that tome and its extensive value, but he wanted a spell that could beat Tornado's might but was light enough to hide it from foes easily.

Thus, Smack was born. Soren had used this tome only once: to clear a stairwell full of enemy paladins during the final battle of Melior in the Mad King's War, and with a single release of the spell Smack succeeded in killing all five Paladins and even in taking down a small group of enemy swordsmen hundreds of yards away who were threatening Kieran and Muarim's attempts to cover Ike as he closed in on Ashnard. Thanks to Smack, the path to Ashnard's throne was clear for Ike as he ascended those steps, and with Tibarn closing in on Daein's King from the other end, the two warriors used their combined strength to bring the tyrant down.

Now, Soren needed Smack once again, and, with trembling hands, like those of Ike's when Ragnell was the only thing that stood between the hero and the tyrant, Soren was worried that either his weapon would fail in its duty or he'd be engulfed by its power.

Soren mumbled the incantation, and a furious wave of concussive air leaped from the pages of the book. It glowed a brilliant green and dived towards the pouncing and shooting enemy laguz and snipers. Soren heard them scream as Smack ripped them apart... The arrows that flew towards the mage simply disappeared, they were wiped out of existence by the spell. For about half a mile straight ahead of him, all Soren could see was a multitude of chopped and flattened trees. Smack had done its duty indeed.

But unlike Rexcaliber, Smack could only strike all opponents in one direction when cast. Rexcaliber, on the other hand, could easily manipulate the surrounding air around its user, thus allowing it to attack all directions simultaneously. Thus, Soren did not see the enemy laguz leaping from his left and right. By the time he heard them, he could only turn to the left and blast all of the laguz in front of him, but he felt the claws of his foes rake down his back, and Soren screamed at the pain.

The mage decided to run. He focused Smack directly above him, and it allowed him to create a small wind barrier around his body that would be able to repel a direct attack from any direction. Like a panicked rabbit, Soren ran deeper into the woods. His foes, knowing exactly how Smack worked now that they'd lost so many comrades to its wrath, split up and prepared to strike the mage from all directions. If Soren used Smack in any particular direction, he'd kill one of them, but before he'd be able to utter the incantation a second time, the remaining laguz would tear him apart.

Soren finally reached a clearing, a clearing ironically created by Smack itself, and holding the tome to his chest, the mage panted. He fell on his knees, exhausted from the ordeal. Soren knew that he was doomed, and he gripped tighter on Smack, muttering the incantation once more. If they were going to come at him, he'd give them all the might he could muster. He would die fighting.

--------------

Ike regrouped the surviving soldiers, which, to his joy and surprise, were the vast majority. At least seventy percent of the allied forces were still alive, still able to fight the rebels and not fail. They had underestimated the terrain of the area, and because of that they were defeated this time. Their next approach would have to be made with caution. They would have to attack during the day when plains were involved, and at night when their troops reached the forest. The hawks would have to make it over the forest first, probably from a different direction, otherwise they'd be unable to be of assistance since they couldn't see at night. Titania, Bastian, Lucia, Ranulf, and Ike scrutinized their map carefully. Without Soren's help, planning was tough.

Lucia turned to her commanding officer. "General Ike, will Master Soren be safe?" She stared at him, eyes full of worry.

"I sincerely doubt that he fell in battle... Soren may have lost battles, but he's always made it back to camp in one piece, even if he was wounded... But it's unsettling not to have heard from him..."

"Then we should search for him... I have a bad feeling about this..." Lucia stammered. Bastian and Kieran were rather surprised. Lucia would never show such uncertainty. She would always show confidence and decisiveness wherever she was. "Lady Lucia." Kieran raised his axe. "As an honorable Knight of Crimea, know that you have my axe whenever you need it."

Lucia smiled. "Colonel Kieran, thank you for your support, but I do not think your assistance will be required today. The forests are dangerous for a paladin like yourself. You should stay here, at base camp. Foot soldiers and beast laguz would be ideal for this mission, not calvary."

Kieran nodded. "Your wish is my command, milady."

Bastian spoke. "Lucia, of the fine blue hair, I shalt assist thee in the search for Master Soren. My love, thou shalt never fear the claws of thy foes, for I, Bastian, shall protect thee!"

"Yeah, right. Thanks, Bastian, but your knife and tome can do so little in a forest of trees. I do not think that our Gallian friends would appreciate any more desecration of their forest. General Ike, we're wasting time. We should try to help him... Something might have happened..." Lucia turned to Ike, her eyes showing a rare sign of pleading.

Ike was startled, but inwardly he smiled. He knew that Soren finally found a person who'd care for him like the blood family the mage never had. "Very well, Lucia. Ranulf, watch over the camp for me while I go find Soren, will you?"

"Of course, Ike, but would two of you be enough?" Ranulf turned to his friend, his eyes showing worry, too.

"I will go with him. All of these people are critical members of our army and are family nonetheless. I am a laguz with good eyes and a nose in the dark. They could use my assistance." Muarim turned to Ike, who nodded. "It's an honor."

"Muarim, you're not a native of Gallia. Lethe should help Ranulf since she can train the troops in Ike's absence. I'll go with you. You shouldn't head out there with only two friends." Lyre turned to the burly tiger. Muarim smiled at her and nodded, as did Ike and Lucia.

"Ok, then, the rest of you stay here. The five of us will make it back safe and sound, I promise." Ike nodded and left with his comrades. Titania and Ranulf exchanged glances. Ike had always kept his promises, but would Soren truly make it 'safe and sound?'"

-----------------

It was the end for him.

They were closing in on his position, their silhouettes growing ever larger by the minute. Soren was worried that blasting the ones in front of him with Smack would give the others time to strike him, so he kept the spell at bay, using whatever willpower he had left to resist the urge to fling it at them.

Sweat poured down his face with an even greater intensity. He was the rabbit, staring right at the wolf's gaping mouth and fangs. He was a dead man, but he would save his last strike for the end.

Lucia saw the wisps of smoke. The flames had died down but the fact that the embers were cooling meant that Soren wasn't far off. Ike and his comrades cringed at the sight before them. Beorc bodies sprouted among the burned husks of the trees. These Crimean friends were slaughtered by the Gallian rebels. They had fought bravely, and the fact that several laguz corpses were among them showed that they were strong, but their bravery and strength was not enough.

Then, they saw them, those beasts, those vicious animals who shared the appearance and blood of the laguz but who could never match their conscience. The beasts were closing in on an unseen target, but Muarim's eyes spotted their prey, and the widening of his eyes told the others all they needed to know: Soren was about to be attacked, and they would have to strike now or they'd lose their master strategist.

Lyre and Muarim pounced upon the beasts, shocking them out of their hungry stares. Lucia and Ike ran towards them, their blades shining in the moonlight, and as his foes howled Soren knew exactly what was happening. Lyre was in front of Soren, biting at an enemy laguz, when Soren yelled. "Lyre, get off of him!"

Lyre was shocked, but she trusted the mage, so she did what she was told, and Soren rewarded the cat by blasting that foe far away with Smack. His comrades all watched Soren's spell in awe. Truly, he was a great mage as well.

The enemy beasts perished, slain at their hands, and Lucia ran forward and shifted Soren onto her shoulder. The mage was shocked at her strength, yet she was also shocked at his. Lucia had been a tactician for the Crimean army, but the earlier news at the loss of Elincia and the defeat of the Crimean Royal Guards had been devastating for her. Had she been here instead of Soren, she might have lost that cold sense of rationality and would probably have fallen to their claws, but Soren had held out for so long, and now he was by her side once again. Wounded, perhaps, but alive. He'd be able to fight again...

Lucia smiled, shocked at the joy she was feeling upon having him alive. For too long had she seen friends fall in battle... She lost many a close friend and comrade during the Mad King's War, and she had no intention of losing _him_...

Marching towards their camp, Ike, Muarim, Lyre, and Lucia shared hearty grins. Their mission was a success, and the prey was able to evade the claws of its predator. Soren was alive!


	14. Thoughts Held and Thoughts Revealed

Chapter 14: Thoughts Held and Thoughts Revealed

I've often wondered what purpose I have here.

That recent battle took much of my strength, and as I lay here today, I can't help but reconsider what I am fighting for...

Yes, these Gallians, these beast people are my friends, and some are even brethren, but it seems so strange that, as a Branded, I should be among them. (1.)

Truly, the human mind is so fickle! Not long ago, these laguz would have despised me and shunned me, just like those rebels are doing now.

But, then again, beorc aren't much better either...

Beorc, laguz, we're all the same, really. Yes, laguz have longer lives and because of that a chance to have a deeper experience, but in the end we're all the same.

Lucia... Ah... She is a great person, a beorc who fights so stalwartly for her family, her friends, and her comrades, yet she can break down in battle when times get too rough. I often worry for her, and even now I regret asking her to follow my plans and guide the army in my place... Will she be unhurt? Will she return to my side safe and sound? It will take days for me to know, and each passing day will leave me with dread.

I've spent years alone, staring out into the distance, dreaming of the day I'd make a name for myself, and though I have, in a way, still I feel unfulfilled... Have I repaid my debt to Ike, the one person who believed in me when all others scorned me? Have I fulfilled my duty for my friends, who have stood by me through these wars, and made sure that my frail, slow body wouldn't be a pincushion for arrows or a sitting duck for the enemy? I owe these people so much, but no matter what I do it doesn't seem enough...

I wonder if this is what Reyson feels when he is forced to stand there while enemy units torture our comrades? Now that I am wounded I can finally appreciate what a powerless person feels. After all, though I may be a member of this army, I can't fight... If any foe were to enter this tent, I'd be dead. I'm lucky Zihark and Muarim are out there right now... Kept them back here because they'd be the last to betray me.

But now... I must rest... Yes... Sleep is what I need...

-----------------

"Soren..."

The raven haired mage mumbled incoherently and shifted about in his bed.

"Soren... Soren!" She repeated, shaking his arm.

"Snort... Wha-? What?..." He shot up and shook his head, like a dazed fawn who has fallen over as it tries to learn how to walk. "Lu... Lucia?" He looked at her, and slowly he began to regain consciousness. "Lucia... You're... You're well!" He chuckled slightly, fatigue slowly draining from his head. "Lucia, your robe." Soren frowned and pointed at the thick white jacket she always wore. "It's dirty..."

Lucia scoffed slightly at the comment. "As if a robe was more important than the fate of a nation."

"Lucia..." Soren smirked, happy that she didn't seem to care so much about that article of clothing. "Victory... Was it ours?"

Lucia laughed. "Soren, wake up! If we hadn't won, would I have come all the way back here to rouse you from your sleep?" She gave him a few seconds to let the question sink in, and when he looked at her for the answer, she laughed. "Lethe would be in this tent, not me, and she wouldn't be laughing... No indeed..."

"Lucia... I was worried about you before I fell asleep... I thought you might face great danger."

"That I did, to be honest, but your plan startled both our comrades and the enemy. By having the Phoenicis hawks drop our Gallian friends to the south of the enemy's position and having them attack from that direction, you threw that entire fortification asunder. The Begnion troops, as you predicted, were panicking because they had no idea who was friend and who was foe. Because they were in a panic, they turned disorderly enough to attack each other in their mad rush for freedom and life, and we were able to take many of them down. The survivors went east, and probably regrouped with their rebel allies. But the fortress is ours. Janaff and Titania are currently holding that position as we speak. I personally came here to congratulate you on your great work. Ike's here, too. He wants to talk to you... Once I'm done with you, of course!" Lucia smiled.

"Did Astrid's unit get into trouble?"

"With Oscar as her reinforcement? Are you kidding me, Soren? On the contrary, they picked off quite a few ravens that were heading for us."

"That... That is wonderful news..."

"Indeed..."

"And to find you here, alive and well, is more than a blessing in itself."

"Soren..." Lucia felt a lump in her throat. She flushed slightly and looked away from him. Soren stared at her, his mind suddenly drifting off. "Ah, Lucia... If only I could tell you the whole truth..." He lamented inwardly, but he could never tell her his true heritage: how he was an abomination, or he might lose her...

"Soren." Lucia spoke, a little more seriously this time.

Soren snapped out of his trance. "Yes?"

She put her hand on his. "This war... it's broken too many hearts. I've heard our allies growl in the night. They've lost countless loved ones, family, and friends. Geoffrey and Elincia are safe in Crimea, so I need not worry about them... But for the rest of us, it's just so terrifying how fragile life is. I... I couldn't bear seeing you, or General Ike, or Titania, or, or even that pervert Gatrie fall... I lost too many friends last time... Too many people who were siblings to me, and I don't want to lose anyone else..." She shed a few tears, lamenting the loss of so many Crimean comrades who never saw their country's restoration.

Soren looked at her. He'd never seen her cry. She might break down and moan or scream in grief or pain, but she never shed tears. But here she was, crying in front of him. Soren gripped tightly on her hand. "Don't have doubts, Lucia... You said so yourself, gloom serves as a major distraction in battle. Have faith. We've gone through a lot... Hell, I almost died a few days back! You need not fear. We have each other, and we'll be watching each other's backs. Even Shinon, who hates Ike, would gladly lay his life on the line for him, because he knows that Ike will do the same. Lucia... You saved my life, and I will never hesitate to help you. These battles may be horrible, and deadly, but remember that we have each other, and you will not need to fear. I'll be there for you..."

He used a finger to wipe a tear from her eyes, and suddenly she grabbed the back of his head and drew him close. He felt soft lips press against his, and soon he felt her tongue. Soren flushed bright red. He had absolutely no experience in this "activity," and was worried that he was a horrid kisser because of it.

He put his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. He felt her body heat and it made him feel empowered, for some reason. He held the woman he loved in his arms. Yes, it must be love, there could be no other words to describe this... It wasn't lust, especially not on her part, because Soren looked much younger than her and was quite short and scrawny. Lucia was beautiful, yes, but so was Jill, and Lethe, and especially Astrid. Yes, Lucia was physically very pretty, but Soren could care less if her hair was disheveled or if there were blemishes here and there on her cheeks. No, what mattered was that she had such a happy look on her face whenever she was near him, and that she was such a caring and loyal person. That was the important part.

After a few minutes, Lucia broke the kiss and pulled back. "Soren..." She blushed, turning away from him. "I'm sorry... That was much too sudden. You're our tactician and... And you can't afford a distraction like this, right?"

"Lucia, why...?"

"I'm... I'm terribly sorry. I'll fetch Ike for you..." She got off the bed and bolted out of the tent.

"Lucia..."

-------------

"Soren! We won! I'm sure Lucia's told you how great the battle fared. Er... Why do you look so gloomy?"

"'Twas a dream..."

"Pardon?"

"_'Tis torture, and not mercy: heaven is here,_

_Where Lucia lives; and every cat and dog_

_And little mouse, every unworthy thing,_

_Live here in heaven and may look on her;_

_But Soren may not: more validity,_

_More honourable state, more courtship lives_

_In carrion-flies than Soren: they my seize_

_On the white wonder of dear Lucia's hand_

_And steal immortal blessing from her lips,_

_Who even in pure and vestal modesty,_

_Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin;_

_But Soren may not; he is banished..._" (2.)

Ike blinked, stunned at this sudden stream of poetic language. The warrior grabbed Soren's shoulders and shook him. "Don't go Bastian on me, Soren... Please... Snap out of it!"

But Soren kept a blank stare at Ike, and moaned. "Oh, vast Heaven, what sort of man am I?"

With a swift grab to the throat, Ike attacked Soren for the first time in their lives. Keeping his chokehold, Ike demanded, in a slow and terrifying growl: "Soren, snap out of this and tell me what happened!"

Ike released his hold and Soren gasped for air. "Were you trying to kill me?!" He snarled, his hand reaching for his neck, trying to relieve the pressure.

Ike smiled. "Nice to have you back."

"Yes." Soren grumbled bitterly. "It's been a pleasure being choked by you. Anyway, Lucia..." Soren began to phase out, but quickly regained consciousness. "Lucia kissed me, and ran away soon afterwards... I thought I had a chance with her..."

Ike laughed out loud. "You do not understand the womanly mind, do you?"

"Neither do you! You're also a man!" Soren growled.

Ike flinched at Soren's rage. "Yeah, I am... But I have more experience than you in this subject."

Soren thought for a minute, and calmed down. "True..."

"Lucia's just embarrassed as heck. She knows you have your duty to me and she has her duty to Queen Elincia. Furthermore, you are the master strategist of this army. A 'romantic distraction,' as Tanith would put it, is much too risky on your part. You can't afford to get distracted by her. She doesn't want you to make an error on her account: Lucia cares about your feelings and knows that you'd be distraught if you were defeated because you were thinking about her... Also, she's worried about the future. You can't afford to show any sign of favoritism over any of our troops, or they'd misinterpret it as you not caring about them, and they'd show their resentment. These are the reasons why she's acting like that."

Soren looked at Ike with amusement. "You've rehearsed this, haven't you?"

"Soren, I'm not an idiot. I've noted you and Lucia for some time now, and it's about time either of you finally took the incentive to show the other how you feel."

"Huh, so..."

"So I'm happy for you, but at the same time you should talk to her when you've fully recovered. Titania and Janaff are keeping the territory we recovered under control, so we don't have to worry about that. Rest up, Soren, you definitely earned it." Ike smiled as he left the tent.

"Lucia..." Soren muttered as sleep overtook him once again.

-----------------

That evening, Soren exited the tent and looked around. It seemed like most of their comrades were asleep, but Soren saw Muarim and Lyre cuddled together, looking at the moon. The mage smirked. At least Muarim would be able to overcome his sorrow with her by his side.

The mage turned and continued lurking in the darkness, letting the couple be.

-------------

"The moon... I remember back in the day, when I was in the Gran Desert with my son. We'd stare at it awhile and wonder what other lands its light would shine on. Revolutionaries like us have traveled throughout Begnion, freeing laguz everywhere we went, but even so the moon has traveled far more than we've ever thought possible. It goes past the borders of Crimea, past the great sea to the west, and disappears, then reappears from the plains of Daein far to the east and goes over our heads again... It goes to places we can only dream of... Ah, Lyre, it's a blessing that I've made it here, in the place where my people call home, but even so there are so many more places that lie beyond the sea... I doubt if our hawk brothers, who can fly and spot the land from afar, would be able to tell us what wonders lie there..." Muarim mumbled as he stared at the moon.

"When you wander for too long, you lose that sense of home, that sense of belonging, and thus your heart is full of yearning. Why do you need to move along when you have friends and family here? Relax, Muarim, exploration makes life fun, but so does sitting down and spending time with those you cherish." Lyre sighed and leaned on his side.

Muarim chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Lyre, for everything..."

Lyre laughed and stretched slightly too. "Muarim, I should be thanking you."

----------------

Oscar leaned on the side of a tree, watching Astrid laughing with Makalov next to a campfire. They were currently on watch, it seemed, and he just couldn't sleep through Kieran's snoring.

"I never had a grudge against Makalov..." Oscar mused. "Until now..."

Makalov was a man whose laziness often got the better of him. With a sly grin, he often slipped away from the Crimea knight brigade he was enlisted in to gamble in some basement of a questionable shop. Back then, either Lucia, Kieran, or Astrid had to go after him and make sure that he'd come back, and Astrid, with her deep kindness, was the least capable in controlling him. Both Kieran and Lucia knew how to coerce Makalov to fulfill his duty with their blades, but Astrid was gentle, and because of that Makalov was more willing to talk with and befriend her rather than avoid her.

Oscar shook his head. What did Astrid see in that idiot? It didn't make any sense.

At that moment, the green haired paladin heard a deep voice next to him. "By the gods..."

"Soren?" Oscar turned to the sullen mage. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting? C'mon... You were wounded..."

"I'm fine, Oscar, thanks. Are you ok? If anything, you don't look well at all..."

Oscar laughed. "I'm fine. It's nothing. I'm not sick or anything."

"But you are sick... Your heart..." Soren stopped before he'd say something he'd regret.

"And I thought you were cold and emotionless... Lucia has changed you for the better, I see." Oscar smirked.

Soren flushed. "I... I... How... How are you aware of that?!"

"You can see my romantic attractions, and I can see yours." Oscar smirked even wider.

"Fair enough. That unworthy wretch... It's an insult to the rest of us to call him a man... But how could we shake him off of Astrid?" Soren turned to Oscar and smirked. "I owe you, Oscar, and I also detest Makalov... I'll help play the matchmaker... As long as you keep Lucia and me a secret from the others."

"Um, sure..." Oscar smiled. Soren made his relationship with Lucia so obvious, so really there were no conditions. He'd win Astrid with Soren's help for sure!

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As the night dragged on, these warriors spent their precious moments together. War, fighting, battles, it was all the same, really. What made this moment special wasn't the fact that war was on the horizon, for, heck, war was always on the horizon. The fact was that they were spending time together with the people they cared about. In his dreams, Ike thought of Elincia and in hers, Lucia thought of Soren. Oscar thought of Astrid and, with Soren's support, was confident that they'd be able to free her from Makalov's machinations. Muarim and Lyre cuddled together, staring at the moon, and in their encampment, they were all close by. They were a family, and nothing could change that.

After a while, Astrid and Makalov went to their separate tents. Oscar yawned and, bidding Soren good night, went to brave Kieran's snoring. Soren himself yawned too, and went back to his tent, which by now had Ike snoozing on the side opposite to his bed. Soren smirked. Ike slept so peacefully, even though he had so many responsibilities in the day. It was good to see his brother in such a peaceful mood.

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1. Yes, Soren is my favorite character. These last few chapters have been centered around him because I like him so much. I'm not attracted to him in a physical sense, for I'd prefer someone like Lucia, but, yes, I do like Soren as a character, very much. This is because, like him, I tend to be quiet, stern (ask my friends, they'd agree), and often aloof. I feel like I can associate with many of his personality traits.

2. A modified passage from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Spoken by Romeo, by the way.

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Author's note: This chapter was intended for me to experiment with writing in the first person (which is why Soren had his little stream of thought. I also wanted to express some of the pairings in this fic and, as a final measure, seal Soren/Lucia for good. I also wanted Soren to express friendliness with someone other than Zihark/Muarim, and establish a friendship with someone who clearly disliked him. (Oscar mentions in POR that Soren was being a jerk for detesting his cooking.) So, yeah, there will be action next chapter, I promise.


	15. Swords, Spells, and Claws

I've finally had the chance to play FE 7, and it's awesome! Erk, Lyn, Rath, and, surprisingly, Dorcas have done a great job in their duties. Heath, Lowen, Rebecca, and Barte pale by comparison. Heck, Barte missed so often that I kicked him out in favor of Dorcas. Heath still does his duty, though. He helped kill Kenneth. Though Pent still kicks Erk's butt, Erk is by no means a weakling. Eliwood, however, in an insult to the other two Lords. Hector is awesome and Lyn is godly. Ok, on with the fic!

Chapter 15: Swords, Spells, and Claws

A burly man, wide as a boulder, wore a suit of thick red armor. He had short, black hair and deep blue eyes. He carried a giant blade that he stroked tenderly as he observed the vast formation of Begnion troops before him. The man smirked slightly and stabbed the sword into the soil.

His name was Saigo, General of the Begnion Imperial Guard, and Valtome asked him to support the Senator in this endeavor.

Fort Kalak, one of Gallia's largest and most critical military strongholds, had just fallen to the Gallian Royal Guards. Master Soren, Chief Tactician of the Greil Mercenaries, succeeded in outwitting Tonerk's Gallian rebels and their Begnion allies, but now they were going to retake that fort. It was their duty, and they could not afford to fail.

Saigo was a hardened war veteran. In the many engagements with Daein, Saigo took down whole battalions of enemy troops. He would be more than a match for a warrior like Boyd or Gatrie, but he thought he was the second greatest warrior alive. The first being Zelgius, of course.

Saigo turned to his men. "Senator Valtome expects us to crush the enemy, no matter how strong they might be. Men, we are going to win this battle! You've seen that Dame, General Titania, and her pups. You've seen General Ike, that boy whose luck has taken him this far. Together they lead these fools forward, and they've done a rather good job for idiots, but the idiocy ends now. They shall be slain and we shall be victorious."

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He sat there, practicing his sword thrusts, trying to figure out the one stroke that would bring down an opponent quickly without wasting too much energy. As his blade twirled about, another suddenly flew towards his head. Zihark quickly blocked this blow, and found that it was Mia who was testing him.

Mia smirked. It seemed that Zihark's skill might have waned a bit. After all, unlike her, Zihark was asked by Soren to stay behind at base. He hadn't the chance to go and put his skills to practice for a while.

Mia was getting bored. She wanted to spar so badly. Seeing that Zihark seemed to have nothing to do, she yelled. "Zihark, if you consider yourself a man, then you've gotta train with me!"

Zihark sighed. The girl never learned how to sit down and rest for a bit, and because of that she could be so demanding and, well, irritating also. "Very well, Mia. Lead the way..."

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He heard swords clashing, and the excited squeals of a girl and the terrified shouts of a man. Gatrie sighed. It had to be Mia, and her opponent was probably Zihark, since no man who wielded a sword would have enough inner tranquility to train with Mia besides Zihark.

Gatrie polished his lance. The blade had a reddish tint to it, which wasn't surprising since he had to engage several Begnion troops and laguz alone as part of a diversionary tactic. Of all the Greil Mercenaries, Gatrie was the one who could take the most hits. After all, his armor wasn't made for show.

He sighed slightly. He was a lover, not a fighter. Instead of being here, on the battlefield, he'd rather be flirting with Marcia, Astrid, or even Tanith... Preferably at the same time.

-----------------

Rhys shivered as he watched Mia and Zihark duel. He winced at every time either swordsmaster took a hit. It took all of Rhys's willpower to stop himself from running forward and yelling: "Stop fighting, you two! We're all family here!" Even though he personally killed his own share of foes, Rhys still hated the sight of blood and couldn't stand seeing people dying. He'd close his eyes as his foes fell because of this.

Shinon watched his colleague's duel with amusement. That crazed Mia would never stop pestering people into dueling with her, and Zihark had no backbone, so he couldn't refuse. These people seemed strong, but Shinon knew better. Every person was pathetic in one way or another. Every person has their weakness, and when that weakness is struck, they can easily crumble.

Rhys turned to Shinon. "How can you be so calm?" He managed, twitching in fear.

Shinon smirked. Speaking of no backbones, no matter how pathetic Zihark might be, Rhys would be far worse. Why the heck was he part of this mercenary group anyway? Rhys was so soft, so naive, so tender. He seemed so out of place when people like Boyd or Gatrie would march beside him. Shinon couldn't understand some of these people. Why would some chipper person like Mia be willing to march for hours on end as part of an army? Why would Rhys, who feared the sight of blood, be willing to stay with the Mercenaries even when they became part of the larger Crimean and Gallian armies? They seemed so idiotic...

And that whelp Soren. What made him so great to have Lucia fawn over him and everyone stand by him? It made no sense. Soren was rather irritable, insincere, and, above all else, bossy as hell. He had this superiority complex going that made it impossible for anyone else to have an opinion, besides his best friend Ike, his "precious" Lucia, the great General Titania, the Sub-humans Ranulf, Lethe, and Muarim, and that old pest Lord Bastian. Everyone else had to follow his instructions unless they had something truly valid to say, as if Soren would know what was "valid" and what wasn't!

Shinon shook his head. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. Maybe it was a good idea not to think about it after all. Their group stupidity would never improve, for Shinon wasn't in charge...

---------------

The blue-armored warrior lugged towards the sound of clashing swords. He found his good friend, the red-haired sniper Shinon, standing and watching this entertaining scene. Mia was actually beating Zihark in their duel, which was rather surprising since Zihark was an accomplished swordsman. Shinon never thought that a woman could beat a man in the art of fighting, but it seemed that Mia was just so powerful.

Gatrie blushed. Mia was just so attractive. He could swear to the Goddess that she was so beautiful compared to the shy Nephenee. Mia was so powerful and feisty, and he liked that in a girl. The more he thought about Mia, the more he imagined a day where he could freely flirt with Mia, Marcia, Tanith, and (to his own surprise) the shy Astrid without having to worry about the stress of battle.

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She sat there, her blue hair waving along with the calm breeze that began to flow through the fort. Lucia wondered if her brother Geoffrey was doing well. On her request, messages via Pegasus came from the Crimean strategy room to her very position in Gallia. Apparently, the Crimean Sages appointed to take her and Bastian's place learned that Daein, under the control of Ashnard's son Pelleas, began to sway more towards the wills of the Begnion senators. One of these makeshift advisors hinted in his letter that Lord Izuka, the man responsible for the Feral program, could be behind this political move on Daein's part. Crimea was friendly with the Apostle and her retainers, but the Senate was almost completely independent of the Apostle, so Lucia had no idea what their intentions were.

And these Begnion troops who were reinforcing the Gallian rebels were not helping. The Apostle would never attack the Gallian monarchy or Crimea or Phoenicis, so it had to be the work of the Senate: Begnion troops would not move on their own accord. Sweat poured down Lucia's back at the thought that Geoffrey might have to engage Daein forces at Delbray, not unlike what they had to go through in the last war. Like Ike and Mist, Geoffrey was Lucia's playmate and friend for a long time. Elincia was her sister and, like Soren and Ike, her closest friend. Bastian was also a close friend, though he became progressively annoying when Lucia hit puberty and grew into a woman. But, in Lucia's eyes, her brother was very close to her... The two of them shared much more than blood. Of course, romantic love was not one of those things, but they did share a very strong love enhanced through years of looking out for each other. As siblings, no one could hope to harm one without the other getting in the way.

Lucia winced at the thought that Geoffrey would be in danger. She was his older sister, though only older by less than a year. It was her duty to watch over him because she had the experience of age. It was the unspoken rule of older siblings, yet now he was a man who was much stronger than her. Lucia sighed at the fact that she wouldn't be there for her nation, her sister Elincia, or her blood brother if Daein were to strike Crimea now.

But she shook her head. This was not the time to think about such matters. They were at war. She'd been distracted enough, even to the point where her distractions were affecting Soren. She had to remain collected and able to provide advice when her friends needed it. She might not be there for Geoffrey, but she had to be there for Soren, and that latter duty was as critical as the former.

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Lyre purred as she slowly awoke... And found herself in Muarim's tent. The cat blushed. "Was I drinking again? I don't remember anything..." She shuddered a little, trying to force herself awake, and looked around. The sheets felt so warm and Muarim was nowhere to be seen. Lyre yawned. Sleeping in didn't seem like a possibility, since they had to be on their guard at all times. Lethe's sister began to rise out of bed when she realized that she was undressed. Lyre blushed furiously and redressed wondering what she could have done. Muarim couldn't have done _that_, could he?

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Lethe sniffed the air around her as she strolled about. She suddenly tensed and turned towards Muarim's tent. The cat could distinctly sense her sister's scent, and growled. It wasn't that she disapproved of Muarim, per say. In fact, he was like a brother to her. What Lethe disapproved of this relationship was that it was done in secret, out of wedlock, and in both beorc and laguz traditions, such actions were immoral. The fact that Muarim had done this to Lyre made Lethe quite furious indeed.

Lethe stormed into the tent to find that Lyre had just finished redressing. "Whore!" The older cat cursed her sister.

"What?!" Lyre snarled, her fists beginning to tighten as she stood up.

"You heard me! How dare you engage in mating before you exchanged vows? It's unforgivable! Ranulf and I might have kissed and cuddled a bit, but neither of us went so far as to break our chastity!"

"Stop accusing me of a crime for which I am innocent! I have no recollection of the incident and you have no right to accuse me of it!"

"No recollection? That's even worse, you shameless harlot! That means that you did _it_ on a whim!" Lethe roared, startling her younger sister... Slightly...

Lyre was about to retort when Muarim asked: "Lethe, can I come in?"

Lethe and Lyre were both stunned speechless, and Lethe stepped aside to let Muarim through. When the tiger's head entered the doorway, Lethe gave his face a punch that sent him crashing on the ground, ripping a part of the tent with him.

"Adulterer! Dove-feathered crow! Smiling wolf! You've deceived my little sister for too long, and I thought that you were a brother!" Lethe railed at Muarim, cursing him to no end.

Muarim immediately growled back at her. "Do not accuse me of such things! Last night Lyre was so tired that she passed out when the two of us were looking at the moon. I brought her to my tent because I, too, was tired and her tent was still a distance away... Besides, I sensed something in the night near her tent..."

Lethe gasped. "You sensed something?!..." The cat shook her head. "YOU IDIOT!"

Lyre stared at Muarim in shock. Laguz's senses were far superior to that of Beorc's and, thus, if Muarim sensed something, that would be no laughing matter.

As if on cure, the three laguz heard a scream.

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Ike tightened his grip of Ragnell. "Release her!" He commanded.

The enemy assassin kept his knife on Lucia's throat. "And why would I, when I have the advantage here?" He smiled.

Soren stepped towards the pair, and put down his tome. "Ike..." He spoke, fixing his gaze into Lucia's own eyes.

Lucia seemed to understand, and she suddenly bit down on the villain's arm. As if on cure, Soren immediately cast Tornado on both of them, breaking the villain's hold on her. As the villain was thrown several feet away, with Boyd and Mia rushing forward with their blades drawn on him, Soren ran to Lucia and used his Mend staff on her.

The villain tried to leap up, but with one stroke downward Boyd cut him down. He immediately perished, his blood staining the grassy meadows near the encampment.

"I'm... I'm fine..." Lucia got up and waved Soren off as he continued trying to heal her. "It's nothing, really, but I'm shocked that he was able to burst out of Lyre's tent so readily..." Lucia turned to the tent, which was untouched other than the fact the fiend hid in it for a time.

Lyre ran to Ike's side. "Ike, I'm so sorry..."

"Lyre, that was quite irresponsible of you... Even if Astrid and Makalov were on watch, the fact of the matter is that you are responsible for your tent." Ike turned to the laguz, trying hard to mask his frustration.

Muarim stepped forward and sighed. "Ike, I am at fault here. You need not blame her. She fell asleep and I sensed something in the darkness, but I neglected to look into it."

Soren's eyes widened. "Then I hope you are well aware of what this error entails."

Lucia began to protest. "Soren, he..."

Soren shook his head. "Muarim, you have earned yourself the reputation of being very dependable and trustworthy. You went completely out of character here. Not only did you lie to yourself by shrugging this disturbance as non-threatening, you were also extremely irresponsible and did not fulfill your duties to the rest of us. I pray that you do not repeat this error, for there will be severe consequences."

Muarim nodded. "I understand... I know that apologies are meaningless, but you can be certain that this will not occur a second time."

"Then I'm certain of it." The mage smiled, shocking everyone with this reaction. He turned and simply strolled away.

Once again Ike turned to Lucia. "What did you do to him?"

Lucia blinked, aware of the various eyes staring at her. Assuming a commanding pose, she yelled. "Stop staring and get back to training, you curs!"

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But training quickly came to halt when a hawk came flying from the south. "General Ike, the fort is under siege! General Titania is having difficulty holding the east and south gates!" The messenger yelled.

"We're about to lose the territory we gained, and we cannot let that happen. Everyone, move out!" Ike commanded as the army quickly left its encampment and headed for Fort Kalak.

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He wore a thick black robe and carried a thick black tome wherever he went. The soldiers under his command often complained that their tactician had an eerie aura around him, and their complaints were quite valid. Wherever Bob walked, the plants near him would start to wither. He was a shaman, a practitioner of that secret school of magic commonly referred to as "Dark Magic."

It was insulting, really, to brand an entire field of knowledge as evil. Death is but a part of nature. Wielding the power to control death isn't necessarily evil. If one were to claim that death is evil, then weren't swords evil for causing death? Wouldn't natural magic such as wind be evil for destroying so many things? No, a weapon is a weapon and a tool is a tool. It is the user that makes a weapon strike with malice and makes a tool commit crimes. One who practices necromancy, a form of this so called "Dark Magic" could either use these energies to help prolong life, or raise skeletons to help with tasks, or he could use its raw power to protect others, or he could use it to kill mercilessly. It all depended on the user.

But, admittedly, Bob didn't have any good intentions behind his particular practice. Utilizing his dark magic, he helped revive dozens of skeletons and had them fight his troops as training. In his eyes, if they could defeat the undead, living foes would be powerless against Bob's forces.

General Saigo turned to Bob, demanding another word of advice from the tactician. "General Ike has a strategist, Soren, who is credited for winning scores of battles with few or no casualties. Soren is also credited with helping Crimea win the Mad King's War. Had it not been for his tactics, Crimea would be a province of Daein. Much of Crimea owes Soren for his efforts. I need you to think of a strategy to defeat such a man."

Bob laughed. "Ever since the last war, we Shamans were forced into hiding, because we were sinners against Ashera, but in the final fight to hold Nevassa against the remnants of the Daein loyalists, Begnion was forced to utilize its Shamans to help revive the dead and hold key positions. I am one of those Shamans, and I am certain that Soren has never seen my magic in action. I'm certain that people like him are very proud, and thus they believe that if a particular tactic won in the last war, they'd recycle it for the new one. That gives us the chance to destroy him and ensure our own victory!"

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The young general entered the fray. He witnessed a scene not that different from the chaos of the rebel attack on Gallia's capital. Gallian tigers and cats were tackling each other, and the screams of hawks and ravens filled the air. Just when Ike began to yell his orders at Titania and the other officers, a hawk suddenly fell from the skies, pierced by a ballista. Moments later, Soren yelled: "Everyone, break the formation!"

Their Crimean troops split up, and seconds later a huge stone smashed the ground they were marching on. The enemy brought siege weapons. Clearly, they had no intention of giving Soren any chance to take them down.

"They're above us!" Lucia managed, moments before twelve ravens smothered her. Kieran quickly rushed to save her with his axe, and shifted her onto his saddle. The red-armored paladin quickly fled into the forest. Frantically, Crimea's finest calvary was forced to risk smashing into the forests as they fled, trying to hide themselves from the wrath of their Kilvan opponents.

Crimean archers and mages hid in the shrubs, pelting their aerial foes with wind spells and piercing them with arrows. Soren regretted the fact that he did not master Fire: these enemy beast laguz eagerly swished through the trees in hot pursuit of his calvary units.

Kieran however, decided to make his gamble. As the beasts closed in on them from behind, Kieran had his calvary and allied laguz turn about and strike immediately, catching all of their foes off guard. With axes, bows, and spears, they turned completely around and struck back. Many an enemy laguz leapt right into a waiting spear, or their skulls would be crushed by an axe or paw, or they'd be struck in mid leap by arrows and crumble on the ground. Zihark, hiding behind Astrid as he sat behind her on her horse, nearly cried when he saw the carnage.

Like the last battle, Skimir was having fun. His uncle, who was forced to remain at the capital because he was King, ordered Skimir to obey Ike, Titania, and Soren's commands. Thus Skimir followed Titania's instructions and tore through the enemy laguz pack, slaying dozens and quickly quenching his thirst for blood. As the main fighter of the Fort, Skimir made sure that no enemy could enter the citadel. Though blood seeped freely into the soil because of him, his comrades could rest assured that Kalak would not fall into rebel hands.

------------------

His comrade was covered in red, and he wasn't referring to the red suit of armor the corpse was wearing.

The liquid swished between his fingers, painting them in that wonderful color. There was far too much green on the land... Far too much blue in the sky. Maybe this color would fit much better.

His black robes seemed aesthetically interesting in this dull universe of repeating colors, though they were rather uncomfortable in this weather. Gallia was quite humid in the summer, and these robes weren't meant to keep one comfortable in the heat.

No, these robes were used to the cold. Not the cold of ice, but the cold that comes when a soul finally leaves in peace. The cold when a man stops moving after he's been skewered by a javelin. The cold when blight strikes a tree and leaves the plant stark. He was used to that cold, so feeling it all around him did nothing to faze Bob as he watched more Begnion warriors fall.

His job was to win this battle, not to worry about fools who fell before the enemy. The shaman spotted an enemy Paladin heading for him, and he mumbled a spell under his breath.

A ring of black surrounded the horse and rider, trapping both in its confines. Balls of violet flame burned brightly in the air, and they began to encircle their master's foe, spinning ever faster and faster. Finally, they dived in at once and seared the flesh of the Crimean warrior, and Bob smiled at his scream. 'Twas a rather intense experience indeed, taking down another enemy fool in one's way.

Rhys could sense it. This form of magic was unlike anything he'd seen before. It was cold, but not like the cool or frozen breezes of wind, no, this was a different kind of coldness. It was eerie, mysterious, and Rhys couldn't help but grab tightly on his Rexaura tome.

The other Crimean Bishops, too, noticed this sensation, and none of them felt at ease. Since Rhys was the veteran Bishop of their battalion, all of the Bishops turned to him. There was another Crimean Bishop who also knew Rexaura, but he was old and frail, unlike Rhys who, though much weaker than a Crimean Mage, could still withstand a blow or two from an enemy sword.

Soren also sensed a disturbance in the magical energies around them, and shared worried glances with Bastian and the other sages. Even though the fighters and magically-deprived warriors of their party could not sense the danger ahead, Soren warned his comrades of this new magical surge. He readied Smack and Thoron and prepared himself for the worst.

Then, he appeared...

Violet fire burned eagerly as Bob stepped forward. Blinding flashes of light sprouted from the ground as Rhys ran forward to protect his comrades from the Shaman. Bob retreated slightly, he feared the might of Rexaura, but the Shaman knew better than to let the enemy Bishop get too close. Several enemy sages quickly ran in front of Rhys, casting Elfire and Elthunder to drive him off. After all, the only anima magic neutral to both Light and Dark was Wind, for the Wind can do little to disperse light or darkness. Fire burns stronger than light and Thunder shines with a much greater and deadlier intensity than its holy counterpart. The darkness can easily engulf both fire and thunder, but shirks back from the holy powers of Light. Thus, these Fire and Thunder Sages forced Rhys to retreat. (1.)

Bastian, realizing that they needed to stall Bob for as long as they could, cast Elfire, but watched in horror as the spell was merely absorbed by the dark energies surrounding their foe.

"Use Rexcaliber!" Soren yelled, running forward to assist the older sage.

Bastian tried to use the spell, but Bob's fire sages countered with Rexflame, forcing Bastian to cringe back in fear of the flames. Wind only helped fan and enhance Fire, it wasn't very effective at dispersing it.

Soren, realizing that Bob's troops could make short work of Bastian, ran to the opposite side, away from the Fire sages, and cast Smack. The winds howled as they focused themselves into a single unified gale that tore through the enemy thunder sages and scattered their electrical bolts. The gale surged forward and struck the dark sorcerer, but he quickly used a Rewarp staff and escaped.

With Bob having retreated, Soren ordered the Crimean Pegasus Knights to dive from the sky and strike the enemy. Bastian, using Bolgagone, burned those mages who would use wind against Crimea's finest aerial forces.

With Bob having gone, the laguz of both the ground and air charged forward, slashing and clawing their way through their foes. Magic, Blade, and Claw fought for supremacy in what was quickly becoming a barren land, and, finally, after hours of slaughter, Skimir tore apart an enemy raven and the surviving rebel and Begnion troops retreated.

Saigo cursed himself and his men for their defeat. Bob was nowhere to be found, so he couldn't account for his failure. The general slammed his head into a rock, racking his brains to find a strategy. Ike and his men began to rest. They had a long fight indeed, but their trial was far from over. (2.)

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(1.) You've noticed that I used the magic triangle here. I'm not trying to make it seem cartoony, but in my opinion because Magic is fantasy anyways, the triangle makes sense. Based on magical theory, Light is holy. It therefore has great power against the unholy darkness. However, based on physics, Light is much weaker than Fire or Thunder, which by the intensity of their energies alone could easily take it down.

Also based on physics, Wind fans flames and helps them grow stronger. Wind VS Thunder is clearly fantasy, but, still, wind could probably disperse electricity based on its innate strength. I don't see how Wind has any relation to Light or Darkness, so I made it neutral. Can't have everything based on the game, right? (Unless my guess is right and Wind is neutral to Light and Dark, in which case I must think like a Fire Emblem programmer, lol.)

(2.) Because the battles get kind of repetitive, I wanted to introduce a new character (well, two, but one will become quite important later in the fic), and help give voice to some of the characters who were not allowed to speak. I apologize for the lack of violence, but, hey, there's always the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!


	16. Pain and Hope

Chapter 16: Pain and Hope

The Begnion army encamped itself on a small hilltop overlooking the Gallian valley connecting Fort Susa with the rest of central Gallia. The Gallian Royal army was closing in from the northern hillsides and the central forests, and so Saigo set his base accordingly.

With watchtowers glaring down into the forests, Saigo was certain that any sub-human who tried to sneak up on them would be slain. With archers stationed in observation decks on the cliffs, any of those bird freaks would be shot down immediately. The general did not want to take any chances.

A small convoy of messengers and supplies rushed as fast as it could for Saigo's base from the south. Unfortunately for it, however, Ulki heard them coming and Janaff intercepted the convoy, taking out the Begnion and Gallian rebel forces guarding it and capturing the messages intended for Saigo's eyes.

Soren smiled as he read the letter. The province of Tek, just south of Saigo's position, was showing signs of regret that they joined the rebellion in the first place. These laguz began to voice their support for the monarchy, and the rebel governor, realizing that he was about to get killed, sent his henchmen to inform General Saigo of the change of events in the hope that his death would not be in vain.

But now that Soren knew this information, he immediately contacted the laguz of Tek in the hopes that they could assault Saigo from the south, the direction for which he didn't have guards.

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The Tek militia, along with elite Gallian royal troops, sneaked along the mountains towards the rebel position. The small Crimean detachment that went with them were led by Titania, who brought Gatrie, Oscar, and Lucia along with her. Gatrie demanded that Shinon tag along with him, as the Sniper was a big help at taking out mages who had the chance of killing Gatrie, and Mist, noting that Rhys wasn't accompanying them, decided to tag along and heal any laguz or beorc who would be wounded in the coming engagement.

Lucia knew that Saigo was expecting reinforcements, so if they sent Gallians as their advance guard, it would keep Saigo's men unprepared for the coming storm. After all, foolish Begnion men like him would not know the difference between rebel and imperial Gallian forces. As long as these Gallians swallowed their dignity a bit and temporarily replaced the word "beorc" with "human," their ruse would be a success.

So their Tek allies arrived first, mingling with the Gallian rebels already stationed in Saigo's ranks. His Begnion guards, however, spotted the Crimean and Gallian royal forces advancing, and when they began to mobilize, the commander of the Tek wing of the Crimean/Gallian army, memorizing Lucia's backup plan in case they were spotted prematurely, immediately ordered his men to strike.

Chaos spread throughout the Begnion fortification as all the Gallians, rebel or royal, were immediately attacked by the Begnion soldiers. Saigo did not want to take any chances. If these sub-humans were to betray him, then all sub-humans, even those who were friends, had to be killed in order to avoid any suspicion of treachery. After all, the only trustworthy laguz was a dead one.

Because Saigo's troops were utterly disrupted, Titania was able to order an immediate strike on that Begnion position. Swiftly and surely they broke through the southern gate, charging through the mob of brawling warriors and taking out the watchtowers stationed to stop the hawks from descending on the base.

Janaff spotted their success, and immediately a legion of Phoenicis Hawks attacked what was once Saigo's glorious citadel. Their screams filled the skies as they swooped down, picking off Begnion and Gallian rebel soldiers eagerly and swiftly. Saigo saw his human comrades falling all around him, and since he couldn't trust any of the sub-humans, he drew his blade, and gasped: "Defeat could never be an option for one such as I. The only reward I have earned today is death, and instead of dying from the unworthy blade of a Crimean slave or the claw of a sub-human, I shall die by my own sword. Farewell, you wretched scum. I may have fallen, but the glorious Begnion Confederacy shall finish thee." With a swish of his blade, Saigo took his own life. His head plopped on the ground, and the Begnion and Gallian rebel armies surrendered.

---------------------

"Begnion Confederacy..." Lucia mumbled the words as she turned to her comrades. Titania stared back at the younger woman with the same clueless expression. What could he have meant by such words?

"Pah, the Apostle's probably lost her touch." Shinon sighed exasperatingly. Lucia's eyes widened, if that was so, then their worst fears might have come true!

----------------

"We have not received word from Saigo's base for an entire week. This is extremely out of character for him. He always sent us reports relating to how his forces were performing..." Valtome mumbled as he and Tonerk sat in the Gallian rebel capital: Fort Hurri, the largest and most well-defended citadel in Klath province.

The provinces of Klath and Gwor were quite large, compared to Tek province. Together, they covered about sixty percent of Gallian territory south of Capital Zarzi. Tek covered about fifteen percent, with the provinces of Elek and Palthon covering the rest. Arsh, the northernmost province tainted by rebellion, was located about sixty miles north of the capital, but by now all the northern provinces were in support of the monarchy.

"I suppose we should get ready, then. If Saigo has fallen, that means that they could very well be marching into Gwor right now. The commanders I posted there are some of my elite veterans, but even they haven't been through nearly as much experience as the warriors of Fort Tatana, for example... The enemy has the potential for many more veteran soldiers, so our last stand will have to be here. Valtome, I thank you for staying this entire time, but it looks like you won't be able to head home any time soon. Let us gather our forces. We're in for a serious scrimmage." Tonerk sighed as he eyed his claws.

-------------

The Gallian royal army and their Crimean comrades arrived at the borders of Gwor province. Being mostly forest, Gwor would a very different battleground compared to Zarzi itself. Soren had failed in his initial strike at the southern provinces, and that was because he was not used to forest warfare, but having had some experience through these recent assaults, Soren was much more confident that he'd be able to bring down these rebels on their own turf.

As their army marched forward, Lucia trudged aimlessly, her head down and her expression rather grim. They were marching forward into the unknown, for Caingehis had rarely gone far to the south of Gallia: most of his excursions were based in territories to the north. Most of the army ignored her. They were busy with their own worries. Zihark looked miserable as he realized that though he'd be taking down Begnion scum, Gallians would have to die by his hands too. Muarim exchanged an exasperated glance with Lyre. They did everything they could to cheer up the swordsmaster, but Zihark still was overwhelmed with gloom. Lethe, too, could hardly hiss in anger. Now, all she felt was sorrow. More would have to die in this pointless civil war, all for Begnion's benefit. Something terrible was happening, but she wasn't exactly sure what.

Gatrie and Shinon had no beer to drown their sorrows in, so all they could do was walk along in solemn silence. Ike and Titania, too, had hardly anything to say to the troops. This battle would prove to be quite depressing, more so than usual, and the only person in the entire army who showed any sign of joy was Skimir, who was thrilled that he'd have the chance to sharpen his claws on some Begnion soldier's armor.

Reyson was somewhat sorrowful, but he still had hope. It turns out that Leanne was in Saigo's base, so after Saigo was defeated she was rescued, but now he felt pathetic. He could hardly fight, and Soren would not let him sing, for if he tried that the Begnion and Gallian foes would easily rip him apart, since he would have to be close to the front lines. However, Reyson, stubborn as ever, refused to return to Capital Zarzi, so here he was: essentially a dead weight. Leanne too, was prohibited from singing, but since she refused to leave her brother's side she had to hover beside him with the same melancholy expression.

Soren stepped towards Lucia. By no means was he feeling happy at all, but at least none of them had died. From Astrid to Zihark, all of their comrades were still alive, though none of them were happy to be here. He felt that the collective gloom he sensed in their army could hardly forebode a happy ending. If they were demoralized before they even fought, defeat would be inevitable. Besides, Lucia probably was feeling lonely that no one was noticing her. It would be a sin if he didn't try to cheer her up.

"Lucia?" He asked her name.

"Soren." She responded, as though it was an answer.

"Lucia, this war has been rather depressing, I know, but it is imbecilic to mope about. If you let gloom consume you before battle, even more gloom will be your reward. I don't think any of us can afford that, not after all that we've been through."

She smiled, nodding a little. "Soren... Well, how do I put it? I'm sure many people have despised you for your frankness, but, in the end, it's your honesty that helps clarify things. Thank you."

Soren flushed. The only person who said such a thing to him was Ike, when everyone else would simply glare at him. "Um, right, Lucia... It's rather depressing, to me, to see you in pain... I'm glad to see that you've cheered up a bit..." He stammered, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Soren." It was her turn to blush. "You are a wise man... Tellius cannot afford to lose you."

"And what makes you think that you're expendable? Among the talented of Crimea's royal palace, you are probably its finest strategist. Bastian is a clever politician, but he annoys people so readily that they are hardly willing to listen to his advice, no matter how sound it might be. But you, milady, you are necessary to keep Crimea and even all of Tellius alive. This is a time when good people have to reach high places in order to change the turn of fate. You are one of those people..."

"You flatter me."

"And you, me."

"Well, you are eager to raise morale among the troops, correct? Now how would you accomplish that?"

"You've always been more knowledgeable than me when it comes to people, so that is the question I was going to ask you."

Lucia smirked. "In that case..."

-----------

A few fits of giggling and many whorls of laughter later, the entire army was in a much better mood.

Why?

Because they had Bastian as comic relief, of course!

Lucia thought of Bastian as a close friend for a long time, but as the years went by, she began to think of him as a nuisance more and more. The sage refused to cease advancing upon her, no matter how strongly she protested. But she thought she could use his fascination with her to her advantage. She promised she'd give him a back massage if he'd go in front of all of their grieving troops and make a complete fool of himself. Of course, he accepted eagerly.

So Bastian leapt about, like a drunk rabbit, trying to get people to laugh. The more laughs he earned, the more likely Lucia would give him that back massage and he'd be able to feel her soft palms and cozy body heat. The more Bastian thought about Lucia, the redder his cheeks became.

---------------

Bastian's insane antics helped brighten everyone's mood, which was exactly what Soren was hoping for. As the groaning and sighing was replaced by laughs and cheers, Soren stood with a sly smile on his face.

The Greil Mercenaries, Crimean Army, and Gallian Royal Guard marched together, their journey having taken them through unimaginable torment. But maybe, just maybe, the end of this pain was near...

--------------

This, my friends, is the second to last chapter. I made plans for the last chapter ever since I was in New York (which is probably around when this fic was on Chapter 4 or 5.) The last chapter will very likely be much longer than this one, and there will be violence, a LOT of violence and less characterization. However, the story is not over. The sequel, Crimson Arrows, will be released shortly after the completion of this fic. I am glad to see that this got quite a few hits and reviews and I am eager to see how the sequel will be welcomed (or scorned). Please stay tuned, readers, and I will reward you as best I can.


	17. Wax and Wane

Author's note: I had intended to update this yesterday, on my birthday, but unfortunately other priorities got in the way. Here is the final chapter of Gallian Nights.

Warning: Intense Violence towards the end of the chapter. Probably not suitable for those under fourteen.

Chapter 17: Wax and Wane

Bob was happy.

The land was covered in red. Finally, a different color made its way in the landscape. With brown and green having taken all the spotlight, it was good to see that a less common color like red finally had its showcase.

But something didn't seem right, and as Bob walked among the many stiff bodies of laguz and beorc, he began to feel that sense of cold once again... This cold was the cold of death. The sight that filled his vision was the rotting of flesh. And that eerie, execrable silence that comes after the total annihilation of an area allowed him to hear his own heartbeat. And at that moment, Bob realized that this wasn't beautiful at all.

--

About three hundred yards away Mist staggered forward, her hip in great pain, for three arrows had lodged themselves in it. As she gasped and tried using her Mend staff, she heard the rustling of life and a gasp for breath. The girl quickly ran towards the sound, and saw who it was.

"Shinon? Shinon! You're safe...!"

"You'd think I'd die so easily, girl? Now don't just stand there! Hurry up and heal me! I hate limping!"

"I'll... I'll get right on that. Thank the heavens, Shinon. You don't know how glad I am to see you!" The girl smiled, but she quickly winced. The pain was extraordinarily great.

Shinon winced as well. His foot was crushed and it was hard for him to walk. "You don't look so fine yourself... Where's that damn Rhys when we need him?!"

--

A mile away, Soren lay sprawled on the ground. He was too exhausted to move. Ranulf had a beaten Muarim on his back, and in his transformed state he couldn't speak in the common tongue, but those around him knew exactly how he felt.

They had won, but at what cost?

Ike and Mia kneeled. It was too painful to stand up.

Skimir was unconscious, curled up in a little ball, but the blood on his claws showed that he didn't fall without taking out his fair share of foes.

Ike choked as he tried to remember what had happened...

--

Gwath fell before the might of the Gallian royals and their comrades.

Sixteen checkpoints, each fortified with at least five thousand rebels, were taken by Soren's genius.

How?

Kilvas turned its back on the rebellion once Saigo was defeated. In their eyes, Saigo's defeat was the last straw. Now, whatever fight the rebels would go through would be a fight for survival.

Like Kilvas, Phoenicis was a "guest" in this conflict. The battle began with Gallia calling for help from Crimea, so those two nations should be credited with the victory. Yes, the hawks were assisting their beast-like brothers in this endeavor, but they should not earn much credit for the eventual outcome.

With the loss of its air support, rebel morale plummeted drastically. Tonerk growled at his compatriots: "We've fought so hard side by side, are you so willing to throw our work away to fight amongst ourselves now? Let us prove to ourselves that we do not need Kilvas to win our freedom from those royal pansies. They might have the hawks on their side, but what are those birds, anyway? Just brown feathers and talons. A hawk could not stand up to the might of a tiger. We shall win this next battle, and crush these fools as they march forward. Kill these traitors, kill them all!"

But words could do little when one is facing a charging wall.

One by one the Phoenicis Hawks would engage checkpoints, taking down rebel forces. Begnion archers and mages were few and far between, so they were stationed in the rebel capital. These checkpoints were lined with cannon fodder, because Tonerk knew that his only clear victory would have to be in a fight where the odds seemed almost hopeless. If he could crush the royal army and its allies in his own base, he could ensure a swift retaking of all lost ground and, shortly afterwards, the capital would fall.

The wave of the alliance swept through the rebel positions. As each fort of Gwor fell, the rebels lost their will to fight. Many surrendered, and, to their surprise, were greeted warmly. But Tonerk's elite warriors were still at his main base, so he cared little about these deserters. They were rats leaving a sinking ship. They'd come crawling back to him once he crushed these royals in his own turf.

Like the men of Crimea during the siege of Delbray, the Gallian rebels rallied themselves and regrouped in Castle Hurri. Tonerk gathered forty thousand men, while an army of sixty thousand marched towards him. Though he was outnumbered, with aerial forces engaging him, Tonerk felt that numbers would not determine victory. He was certain that he'd win... One might have thought that maybe, just maybe, he had finally gone insane.

Their roars pierced the sky and their paws pounded against the soil as the first wave of Gallian rebels plunged into the marching lines of their royal counterparts. Phoenicis Hawks dived only to find Begnion archers and wind mages ready to pierce their wings and blast them out of the sky.

And the allied forces met a new threat they'd hardly met before: Shamans and Druids. These mages of dark or elder magic shimmied along in their thick black robes, engulfing foes in violet flame.

Ironically, many of these shamans were casting the weakest of elder spells: Flux, and it did quite a good job searing flesh off of Gallian troops or tearing holes in Crimean armor. Oscar gasped as a Flux spell tore the front of his armor and forced him to fall off his horse and hit the ground, gasping for breath.

Seeing Oscar fall, Astrid angrily twirled her bow and fired twenty arrows, and, like pincushions, these dark mages fell. Those corrupted mages might have powerful spells, but they weren't that durable against physical attacks. Thus, there was hope for the alliance yet.

And Tonerk spotted that weakness, so as he saw many of his troops fall, Tonerk did the unthinkable.

"Valtome, hand me that flask..."

"This... This is the Feral drug..."

"I know, I kept it for such an occasion... There are about fifty bottles. Distribute them among our men. The revolution will live, at the very least, as scars on these filthy lambs."

With morphed laguz in their ranks, the rebels suddenly gained a surge in strength, and royal troops howled as their foes proved to be stronger and swifter.

Because they shifted between laguz and Feral One, these rebel troops were both powerful and, yet, still 'human' in thought, though that might change at any moment. Of course, their lives were living hells, with each of them feeling as though their heads were about to split open with the surge of adrenaline the drug gave them.

Their rage manifested itself in their killing effectiveness. These laguz, frustrated with the apparent lack of sovereignty in their society, frustrated with the fact that, though humans once enslaved laguz, now they were being so friendly, frustrated physically by that intense pain in their heads, charged headfirst into the fray. They'd tear at a foe with great vigor, ripping them apart in seconds with their focused fury.

That morning's dew was rather strange: it had a reddish color and was much more thick than the normal, transparent, watery liquid that would drip off the leaves.

And it was everywhere, dripping off of every leaf, platting against the ground and turning the soil red as well. It seemed to drip constantly, as though it could never fully evaporate. As each rebel and royal laguz fell, as each beorc who stood for either Begnion or Crimea gasped their last breath, this red liquid continued to flow.

Muarim, Ranulf, Lethe, and a few of the other veteran laguz knew that this drawn out assault would not bode well at all. Thus, they single-handedly dived through the enemy lines and As they continued to press forward, slashing past the rows of enemy laguz, they found a strange sight.

Mordecai and a fellow dark gray tiger were also smacking their way past their semi-feral brothers. It was quite shocking to know that he'd been behind enemy lines this whole time. Lethe honestly thought that Mordecai was either hiding or trying to fend for himself, not keeping up the fight here where few allies would stand by him. It was both comforting and, yet, a little sorrowful that Mordecai, the most benevolent tiger Lethe ever knew, could be capable of being so brave and violent.

But Marcia's scream forced Lethe back to her senses. Her friends and close comrades were being torn apart by these wayward laguz brothers and sisters. For Gallia, for these comrades who risked their lives for her, and for this pointless bloodshed to come to an end, Lethe had to rush forward and kill Tonerk and Valtome as soon as possible...

But what Lethe found surprising was that the laguz who darted past her and charged up the steps of the castle where Tonerk was settled wasn't Ranulf or Lyre, but it was Muarim.

The green tiger charged up the castle stairwell, smacking rebels aside and knocking them out cold. He needed answers. Why did Tonerk cause so much destruction? What was his purpose? He claimed to be fighting for all the laguz, but making his soldiers into Feral Ones seemed to counter everything that came out of his mouth. It made no sense, and Muarim needed to know.

--

Valtome emerged from the castle's west gate, leading his band of armored knights to take on their Crimean counterparts. Using Elthunder and Thoron, Bastian and Soren made quick work of these knights, and Lucia charged at Valtome. "In respect for the Apostle, I will take you down and drag you over to Sienne myself. She has to be the one to punish you for your vile actions, Senator." Lucia twirled her blade.

"Lady Lucia of Crimea, what a pleasant surprise. It seems fitting that I shall kill your wretched hide using the divine powers of Light. Behold the power of Valaura!"

Valtome raised his hand, and a huge purple sphere came crashing down. Rhys gasped, it looked just like Rexaura... But that lavender light did not seem as majestic as the golden glow of Rexaura, no, this looked corrupted... Like a mixture of light and dark magic. Rhys gulped, this could bode ill for Lucia... If she got hit by that spell, physical burns might not be the only retribution she'd get...

But just when Lucia was about to take the hit, a gust of wind flew in front of her, and the two spells clashed in midair. Soren and Bastian had their hands outstretched, focusing their energies so that their combined magical strength could protect the woman they both loved.

Lucia gulped, if Valtome alone could be so much stronger than Soren and Bastian, she'd have a horrible time fighting him.

"Thoron!" Soren growled.

"Bolgagone!" Bastian commanded.

Fire and Thunder blasted Valtome, catching him off guard. "Lucia, now!" Soren yelled, and Lucia, swinging her sword, flew at her opponent with great speed and struck him as hard as she possibly could. Enraged that he could be beaten by three lesser officials, Valtome immediately cast Valaura on himself, thus blasting Lucia along with him. The girl flew back and hit a tree, and was knocked unconscious. Soren charged forward, but found that Valtome already beat himself senseless

The mage rushed to Lucia's side and tried to heal her, but halfway into the procedure, an arrow flew from behind and struck him on the back. Soren collapsed, and Bastian, unable to use spells, could only take down the cruel archer and stand there beside the two of them.

--

Muarim finally reached Tonerk, and the two laguz glared at each other.

"Why, brother laguz... Why did all of this happen?"

Tonerk sneered: "Muarim, you pathetic slave. Those humans tortured you beyond belief, yet you still fight beside them."

"Forgiveness is one of the greatest virtues..."

"'Tis a _human_ virtue. We laguz are far superior to humans, and we know what _reality_ means. Forgiveness has no effect on scum like those _humans_."

"That is where you are wrong!"

"Oh?"

"Only when you forgive can you achieve greater things! Vengeance is a meaningless pursuit because once your enemy is completely destroyed, all you've succeeded in doing is causing destruction, and if there are those who would avenge your foe, then the vicious cycle continues... What point is there to cause so much destruction when, by avenging someone, you intended to end it?"

"But I want to destroy! I want to kill every single one of those _humans_. Only then can we laguz live peacefully... Without _them_."

"Then I have nothing to say to you... You who claims to fight for the betterment of laguz when he actually forces his men to drink that vile Feral potion. You're a fake towards your very own beliefs... The worst hypocrite of them all. For all my brother and sister laguz, I must get rid of you."

"Can you, pathetic slave, or will I be the one to consume your worthless hide?"

"We shall see."

Tonerk leapt towards Muarim with his claws outstretched, and the tiger was quick to return the favor...

As the two tore each other's flesh, the land below was covered in blood.

Laguz and Beorc collapsed on the ground from exhaustion and from severe injuries. The battle had gone too far. Each nation involved had scores of casualties... Countless hawks, Crimeans, Begnionians, and Gallians would never see their families again. Each hero and heroine of the Mad King's War who fought on that day was wounded. If Muarim failed in this fight, Tonerk would very well have the victory he so badly wanted.

Ike, Gatrie, and Boyd's great muscles failed them, and as they collapsed they could see the two laguz fighting high above them. Ike smirked. Muarim was a good man, a warrior of honor. if he claimed that he'd defeat Tonerk, there was no reason to doubt that Tonerk would no longer be alive... But how many of them would have to fall before the green tiger was victorious?

Tonerk's claws tore through Muarim's back as he leapt over the tiger. All his hatred for the beorc was intensified when he saw how this pathetic weakling stayed so loyal to them even though he'd been tortured so extremely.

Muarim here was an insult to all laguz, and it would be fitting to kill him right here, in front of those other fools who would kiss the feet of_ humans_.

A laguz is brave, powerful, and, in some cases, wild. He should never refuse a fight, unless he is severely wounded. Honor should only be put into application when the opponent is truly worthy of it, otherwise a laguz ought to hunt his prey like a true predator. Mercy for a weaker organism never applies, unless this "prey" was actually a worthy opponent who only turned out to have slightly lesser abilities than the laguz himself. Laguz are mighty beasts who never show sensitivity or weakness, unless they are female.

But Muarim was so different. Those humans tamed him. They made him so weak, so uncertain, so indecisive. It was laughable, really, but at the same time it was insulting that Muarim called himself a laguz. What right did he have to those claws and to those burly muscles? He did not deserve these traits of a predator. No, Muarim was merely a deer with hard hooves, that's all.

Tonerk dived in for the kill. His claws were ready to tear Muarim's spine out of his back and thus kill that pathetic tiger instantly, but Muarim was ready for him. The moment before his claws reached the tiger's back, Muarim lifted his head and clamped down on Tonerk's foreleg.

The cat let out a screech and tried to flee, but the tiger rammed his clawed paw into its cheek. As Tonerk landed on the ground with a thud, Muarim raised his paw to crush his skull, but Tonerk used his better leg to claw Muarim's face in an attempt to gorge out his eyes.

Muarim howled, but as Tonerk tried to move in for another strike, he felt a swish on his neck. The tiger, in desperation, struck him at a vital area, and Tonerk felt his throat begin to fill with liquid.

And, at that moment, the one who hated death and destruction caused the bloodiest kill in that entire battle. Tonerk collapsed, his body covered in red, and Muarim, seeing the remaining rebels begin to scatter or fight obsessively and desperately, lost consciousness and fainted.

--

There was no glory when the battle was won.

Gallia had defeated its rebels, but at the same time these warriors slaughtered their countrymen. Wayward or no, these rebels were also Gallian. These rebels were brothers and sisters who merely took the wrong path. Now, with so many casualties, it would take generations for these wounds to heal.

The Greil Mercenaries and their Crimean and Phoenician comrades collected their wounded. Thousands of hawks and white-armored beorc could hardly move, having fought till their last breath. Just as many, if not more Begnion warriors were also severely wounded. General Sigrun of the Begnion Holy Guards arrived to take Senator Valtome into custody, and as she left she made sure to have medics take the wounded warriors back to their country to be healed, though they'd also be dammed.

The Crimean army returned home, and the Greil Mercenaries returned to their fort. Standing side by side, looking back at the vast forest of Gallia, Lucia turned to Soren.

"We have our duties, and we cannot fail them. You must care for Ike, and I must care for my sister."

"Lucia, you know the task we have at hand too well, it seems. But promise me this, when her majesty stabilizes her throne and when Crimea and Gallia can stand once again, let me look into your eyes once more."

The woman smiled. The burden on her shoulders was heavy, but at least he could emphasize with her. "I will, Soren... And you should do the same, when Ike can finally manage without you..."

"No, I wouldn't make a promise that I wouldn't return. I will return to you, if it so happens that Ike manages to settle things before her majesty Elincia. Regardless, let us ensure our next meeting..."

"Yes, let's."

"Farewell, Lucia. May Ashera smile upon you."

"Good bye, Soren. I pray that fate will smile upon you as well."

They turned, and slowly trudged away from each other: to the people for whom they dedicated their lives.

--

Spring and summer came and went, and as the fall leaves sprinkled the ground, Lyre sat on her boulder close to the Crimean border, thinking of that tiger. After killing Tonerk, Muarim left for Grann Desert. He felt ashamed that he had to soil Gallia's beautiful soil with blood, so he decided to return to Tormod's side and help him restore the Laguz Emancipation Army.

But somehow, Lyre was sure that they'd meet again...

It just happened much sooner than she expected.


End file.
